Meanderings : MFA

*

picture from How to Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon,
one of my new favorite books, I've read it from cover to cover.
Now that I've read it, I pick it up often and open it randomly
and see what I need to know for that day.
It's not just for writers or artists.
It's about creativity.
Buy it.
You'll like it.

*

This first paragraph is how I started this writing today and I'm going to leave it, as development, as an example of how meandering thoughts can lead to having something important to say. I don't have a major focus to write about at this point. Instead, some wandering thoughts - I was going to say random thoughts but they aren't random. Not really. Keep reading; I discovered a focus even though I thought I started with none. Oh, and I did come back in and add a word to the post's title to more accurately reflect the finished piece.

One piece of information is that my Bachelors Degree university is now offering an MFA in creative writing. That's really good news. I checked their website within the last year, maybe even with the last six months, and there was nothing there. One reason I checked there is that I had a really good experience, their format worked really well, and I hoped they might come up with something similar.

This is good and always makes me smile: my undergrad degree is, tada: a BS in Liberal Studies. Love that. With double minor in English:Writing and Theatre. But it was a great experience. Distance education, with some in-person of what would now be called "rigorous" 3- to 4-day classes (where there were pre-reading requirements, post-attendance assignments which were lengthy to prove that you did your homework and understood it), some online classes, even a correspondence course via regular mail, and a little bit online. It worked. My advisor was very helpful and encouraging. It was great.

Anyway - see, rambling, meandering - I checked their website and, nada. Until now. They recently were approved for the MFA in writing. And someone I would love to take a workshop with, a class with, is one of the professors.

And I was tempted.

But I've decided that right now is not the time for me to jump in. I thought I would when I saw it, even with the two week application deadline. I know I could write up two 750 word essays and find work to submit and all of that. And it would be kind of cool to be in the first cohort. And the curriculum looks good. Looks like what I want in an MFA if I do that - and I've been thinking about it for a while; I like the look of the curriculum, a lot.

Now is not the time and having the first two week residency in June - no, not a good time. I will just be at the end of a busy theater season and starting the process for scheduling the next season. I also have a summer theater workshop in the development phase and will be (hopefully) doing final preparations right at that time for the workshop. And I am on a national committee which is putting together a standard practice paper on performance interpreting - which has an early August deadline for getting the first draft written up before our national conference.

So this June - not a time to start an MFA.

I'm not ruling it out for later. Just not now.

Okay - maybe I did have a focus for this writing. The MFA.

To MFA or not to MFA, that is the question.

Short answer: not now. Long answer: maybe.

I'd like an MFA and there are factors to consider. I'll pose some of my questions and I'd love to see what others say. I know someone in an MFA program and I drool when I see her posts. And sometimes I think, whew, glad that assignment isn't mine (at least not now).

I read about the inspiration of an MFA. The community. The camraderie. The knowledge about the business of writing and publishing and, yes, networking. Confidence building (that one I really want; don't guffaw - I really could use it!). Feedback. Energy. Creative momentum. The paper which says I did it and validates that I Can Write.

I read about the negative aspects of an MFA. It's not the real world. It's sterile. It dilutes creativity and replaces it with an academic mandate or style of writing which can swallow the soul. It's too expensive. It creates a false sense of quality or expectations. It's unnecessary. It's insular and isolating (within a context of others of similar experience). It's not real world and there are other ways to write outside of academia.

Oh - and an MFA gives your permission and time To Write. For me the time is not an issue; an MFA wouldn't give me time. It would give me a Timeline and it would be one more thing in the list of things I'm doing. And that's one key for me right now : not wanting to add anything in because I feel like I've just reached a point of some relative balance and sanity in my schedule. Balance like a teeter-totter with evenly weighted ends, not flatlined.

So I did have something to say, after all.

What do you think about an MFA in writing? Is it worth the time and money? Why or why not? What is on your list of pros and cons?

*



Sometimes - Maybe - Not Knowing Is Better

This time of transition is still mysterious. It feels right and it feels good - and unknown. Which is not to say that being in a period of transition to change is unfamiliar; no, I've been through changes and their transition period before.

The unknown is what is waiting on the other side.

This is not a leap into complete nothingness while chanting about building my wings on the way down. There were decisions made (what a passive beginning to this sentence - yes, I noticed) and some things are continuing forward (okay, so the whole sentence came out as passive).

There are opportunities in the time ahead.

And I'm exploring.

Among my explorations of what I want are completion of my Masters degree. I ask myself what type of degree I want and I think I know - but I'm exploring. There are questions of responsibility and time; which partially equate to money. Time and money - not unfamiliar territory to consider as I make a move forward.

So I've found something I'd like to do - I think. And am looking around at the options. With the considerations
- time
- money
- and location.
It is not realistic for me to move somewhere for a couple of years to complete a degree. And that's okay - I'm not grieving that, because I know, if it was really what I wanted and I had to go somewhere, I would make it happen. But, no, I don't need to go somewhere for what I want. I just need to find the thing that I want and put the pieces into place (oh, if it were just that easy - but I'm not wandering down that path of grief and longing - no).

I have found a couple of options close to home. There are certainly distance degree options - but those generally don't fit with the money considerations. I really don't want to get, along with my degree, $35,000 of debt. See, the distance programs I'm looking into don't generally offer much in the way of tuition reduction opportunities - generally they come with loans. But I'm wandering again - I want a degree program close to home in the subject I want and which offers some graduate tuition assistance programs.

I found one which seems to meet what I want in terms of curriculum and approach. And it's a reasonable and workable distance from home. And it does have tuition assistance options. It looks - through their written material - like a pretty good fit. I'd want to follow up and meet with them, talk about the curriculum more. I found the resources to do that.

And I found more information. Which makes my heart sink a little. What seemed like the near perfect program now seems - well - daunting in terms of application. No, it seems daunting in terms of acceptance rate.

Here is where I pause and wonder if moving forward is a good idea:

How many students are admitted each year?

The MFA Program received over 370 applications this year (2012) for our six seats in Fiction, three-to-four seats in Creative Nonfiction and three-to-four seats in Poetry.

What is your acceptance rate?
Our acceptance rate is under 4%.

And here is where I'm excited:

What is the teacher/student ratio?
The teacher student ratio is approximately 1:3. Professors are devoted to students’ work and accessible for out of class attention and guidance.

Overview
... a student takes a 4-credit workshop in their genre (poetry or prose), a 4-credit literature or craft course, and 4 credit hours of thesis advising and/or teaching-practicum credits...

I was excited to find this option and will continue to explore.

And I wonder, can I be one of the 4%? Someone has to be, right? And I have nearly 11 months to prepare my application, since next fall's applications were due January 6th.

I'm still exploring and this looks like a good option on all levels. And, while I wondered what the acceptance rate was - I now kind of wish I didn't know. It feels like swimming against the current. Even if I decide to not go with this option or drop the idea entirely and decide to use my time in another way, at least I know it is possible. If I could be one of the 4%.
 .

Time on my Hands

.
How often do I say that? Not much, I know. But here I am, with a series of circumstances which have left me with gaps in my schedule.

I know. Don't get me started. What I'm calling "gaps" in my schedule may not even be considered "time off" for other people. But today I do have the whole day off. No work (the job I had canceled, billing done, emails responded to, no prep work to do, no play to translate or practice). No teaching (scheduling, grading, reviewing, contacting mentors or students - it's all done - waiting for replies). And with the canceled ongoing assignment, I have more time. Yes, I will have to pick up some other jobs to fill in that gap - but it will be fine. Those assignments will trickle in as I need them to (thinking positively here).

So I'm writing more. As I've already said here. I'm actually writing a lot. (And, see, I'm posting more. This was part of my commitment to myself - to post at least four times a week, with a secret hope of nearly daily.)

And - you know what else I found myself doing this morning? Sitting here with my coffee (which is contradictive with the arnica I took; I'll have to take more in an hour or so) and my cottage cheese with kale and blueberries, ice on my achey ankle and foot raised - online, looking around at Masters and PhD degrees in creative writing, creativity, and MFAs. Again. I revisit them now and then. See what's new. If any of them look better than they did last time. What's close to home. Who is offering what for distance degrees/low residency options. And they're looking better. I wonder about those with graduate teaching assistance - maybe, that could be fun or could be H E double-toothpicks; it would certainly be a time consumer, as I know very well. Distance/low res options cut out the time and place requirements, but tend to be more expensive and don't have grad teaching financial help (but they could! I know they could! I've been a mentor and instructor in distance programs and I could do it for an MFA). Today I saw one, more local (and I forgot to check if it's at the local campus or only on the main campus) where a bulk of the classes are workshop. I love that idea!

Simultaneously I am thinking: what AM I thinking? How could I do this? Am I simply uncomfortable with time off or is having some time off from so many obligations giving me time to think about what I do want?

Would a Masters degree in writing or creativity or even the coveted MFA really make a difference? Further my goals as a writer? Or simply prolong or derail them? I've toyed with the idea of a PhD - with all the credits I have an my experience, there used to be a program that I could wrap up the Masters requirements simultaneously and go straight to the top. But the top of what? What is the PhD for - but to teach? And do I want to teach writing/creativity in a standardized academic setting? Or is it the experience and exposure and cameraderie of the degree; the shared space and the permission to write and the feedback (I have great experience with this through Ariel Gore's workshops - in person and online)?

Why do I keep looking at the degrees? And yes, I noticed the excitement I felt at the one with the workshop foundation. I don't know. I've been here many times.

Time consumer? Validation? Permission to write? Networking and information to move ahead?

Thinking.
.