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"Things I Can Say About MFA Writing Programs Now That I No Longer Teach in One"
http://www.thestranger.com/books/features/2015/02/27/21792750/things-i-can-say-about-mfa-writing-programs-now-that-i-no-longer-teach-in-one
I'm not going to quote this guy because he's a huge dick, but the attitude he expresses here, which completely negates the existence of a diversity of different writing talents and the incredible power of life experience to improve the skill level of young writers, is why I gave up on having my work professionally published after taking a Creative Writing seminar with a hotshot writer/professor (who hated both genre fiction and "women's fiction") as an undergraduate. Now I write blog posts, fanfic, and zines. People presumably read what I write, and I have a lot of fun. "Getting published" requires connections, venture capital, and a positive community, not to mention being at exactly the right place at exactly the right time, and it has very little to do with "innate talent." This dude can take his talent and shove it while the rest of us enjoy ourselves and do what we want.
Also, it takes a special sort of person to read books by David Foster Wallace and Thomas Pynchon and then come back for more. Just saying.
Junot Díaz's essay "MFA vs. POC" is a nice antidote:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/mfa-vs-poc
http://www.thestranger.com/books/features/2015/02/27/21792750/things-i-can-say-about-mfa-writing-programs-now-that-i-no-longer-teach-in-one
I'm not going to quote this guy because he's a huge dick, but the attitude he expresses here, which completely negates the existence of a diversity of different writing talents and the incredible power of life experience to improve the skill level of young writers, is why I gave up on having my work professionally published after taking a Creative Writing seminar with a hotshot writer/professor (who hated both genre fiction and "women's fiction") as an undergraduate. Now I write blog posts, fanfic, and zines. People presumably read what I write, and I have a lot of fun. "Getting published" requires connections, venture capital, and a positive community, not to mention being at exactly the right place at exactly the right time, and it has very little to do with "innate talent." This dude can take his talent and shove it while the rest of us enjoy ourselves and do what we want.
Also, it takes a special sort of person to read books by David Foster Wallace and Thomas Pynchon and then come back for more. Just saying.
Junot Díaz's essay "MFA vs. POC" is a nice antidote:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/mfa-vs-poc
