The Creative Writing MFA Handbook


Book Description

Guides prospective graduate students through the difficult process of researching, applying to, and choosing graduate schools in creative writing. This handbook includes special sections about Low-Residency writing programs, PhD programs, publishing in literary journals, and workshop and teaching advice.




The Low-Residency MFA Handbook


Book Description

The Low-Residency MFA Handbook offers prospective graduate students an in-depth preview of low-residency creative writing MFA programs. Interviews with program directors, faculty, alumni, and current students answer the many questions prospective graduates have, including: What happens during the non-residency semester? What are the brief residencies like? What community is established between faculty and fellow students? What opportunities are there for writers to gain pedagogical training through a low-residency format? And, most importantly, is the low-residency model right for you? These questions, and more, are answered in detail. The guide also clarifies the application process and offers application tips from program directors and alumni. It also considers funding, program structures, and unique opportunities such as editorships and assistantships. For prospective graduate students looking for detailed information, The Low-Residency MFA Handbook provides a personalized and genuinely useful overview.




The Creative Writing MFA Handbook, Revised and Updated Edition


Book Description

The Creative Writing MFA Handbook guides prospective graduate students through the difficult process of researching, applying to, and choosing graduate schools in creative writing. This second edition updates and builds upon the first edition, which was published in 2005 to great acclaim.




The Portable MFA in Creative Writing


Book Description

Get the core knowledge of a prestigious MFA education without the tuition. Have you always wanted to get an MFA, but couldn't because of the cost, time commitment, or admission requirements? Well now you can fulfill that dream without having to devote tons of money or time. The Portable MFA gives you all of the essential information you would learn in the MFA program in one book. Covering fiction, memoirs, personal essays, magazine articles, poetry, and playwriting, this book provides you with: • Inspiration and tips on revision, stamina, and productivity • Clear instruction on the craft behind the art • Detailed reading lists to expand your literary horizons • Exercises to improve your writing endeavors By heeding the advice in The Portable MFA, you will gain the wisdom and experience of some of today's greatest teachers, all for just the price of a book.




MFA Vs NYC


Book Description

Writers write—but what do they do for money? In a widely read essay entitled "MFA vs NYC," bestselling novelist Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) argued that the American literary scene has split into two cultures: New York publishing versus university MFA programs. This book brings together established writers, MFA professors and students, and New York editors, publicists, and agents to talk about these overlapping worlds, and the ways writers make (or fail to make) a living within them. Should you seek an advanced degree, or will workshops smother your style? Do you need to move to New York, or will the high cost of living undo you? What's worse—having a day job or not having health insurance? How do agents decide what to represent? Will Big Publishing survive? How has the rise of MFA programs affected American fiction? The expert contributors, including George Saunders, Elif Batuman, and Fredric Jameson, consider all these questions and more, with humor and rigor. MFA vs NYC is a must-read for aspiring writers, and for anyone interested in the present and future of American letters.




DIY MFA


Book Description

Get the Knowledge Without the College! You are a writer. You dream of sharing your words with the world, and you're willing to put in the hard work to achieve success. You may have even considered earning your MFA, but for whatever reason--tuition costs, the time commitment, or other responsibilities--you've never been able to do it. Or maybe you've been looking for a self-guided approach so you don't have to go back to school. This book is for you. DIY MFA is the do-it-yourself alternative to a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. By combining the three main components of a traditional MFA--writing, reading, and community--it teaches you how to craft compelling stories, engage your readers, and publish your work. Inside you'll learn how to: • Set customized goals for writing and learning. • Generate ideas on demand. • Outline your book from beginning to end. • Breathe life into your characters. • Master point of view, voice, dialogue, and more. • Read with a "writer's eye" to emulate the techniques of others. • Network like a pro, get the most out of writing workshops, and submit your work successfully. Writing belongs to everyone--not only those who earn a degree. With DIY MFA, you can take charge of your writing, produce high-quality work, get published, and build a writing career.




Long Gone & Lost


Book Description

Bobby Horecka writes short fiction laced with truth. He tells tales of a man who had the roughest of starts in life. Through the fireside bardic storytelling tradition, readers learn of the resilience of children and the power of love to redeem even the most damaged. As the young man grows, he discovers a talent for observing and recording stories, ultimately becoming a newsman with the bad luck and poor timing of entering a dying field. These partially true, tongue-in-cheek stories offer a first-hand look, at the demise of the American newspaper, and at a slice of the unique Czeck community in and around Lavaca County, Texas. You might've just started out or reached the jumping off spot. Maybe you're the rainy-day saver who never left anyplace without charting a precise destination and itinerary first, or you're plumb astounded you got where you're at and couldn't tell me what happened last night much less what's in store six weeks from now. You might have a working man's calloused hands the calloused soul that only the mistreated know or the calloused heart that comes with having yours shattered too many times. Everybody needs to catch an occasional break or they risk becoming Long Gone & Lost...




The Poets & Writers Guide to MFA Programs


Book Description

This essential handbook, revised and updated for 2010, provides everything you need to know about deciding where and how to apply to the best graduate creative writing programs for you. -The top programs in the United States. -How to decide where to apply. -Advice on preparing your application. -A look at PhD programs in writing. -Tips on becoming a teaching assistant. -How to get the most out of your MFA experience. A collection of articles edited by the staff of Poets & Writers Magazine, this handy resource includes straightforward advice from professionals in the literary field, additional resources to help you choose the best programs to apply to, and an application tracker to keep you organized throughout the process.




The Literary Northwest


Book Description




Handbook of Creative Writing


Book Description

An extensive, practical and inspirational resource, this three-in-one volume is aimed at students and practitioners of creative writing at all levels.In 48 distinctive chapters the Handbook:*examines the critical theories behind the practice of creative writing (Part 1). *explains the basics of how to write a novel, script or poetry (Part 2). *explores how to deal with the practicalities and problems of becoming a writer (Part 3). As well as the main creative writing activities, chapters cover other practices, from translation to starting a small magazine and from memoir writing to writing for children. Contributors are all experts in their fields: poets, novelists, dramatists, agents, publishers, editors, tutors, critics and academics. Anyone with an interest in creative writing will find this book invaluable in developing their own creative writing projects and as a way into new areas of writing activity. Key Features*The only book to combine the theory and practice of writing with detailed advice on the business of writing and living as a writer*Combines breadth and depth with original thinking on creativity and evaluation of creative work*Shows ways of approaching the task of writing and how to improve one's work*Presents material which is hard to find elsewhere, e.g. writing for teenagers; writing humorous fiction; finding a film agent