Considering a MFA program? Read this first!

Recently, I came across an article from Writer’s Digest titled “What They Don’t Teach You in MFA Programs: 5 Rules for Writing Stories That Work” by Chris Mooney, a “Bestselling author and creative writing instructor.” I was obviously intrigued because I’m all set to graduate from what I believe to be a stellar MFA program on January 17th. Could there really be something I didn’t learn? Would prestigious, world-renown faculty really leave something out?

Turns out, the answer is NO.

I’m not sure what beneficial purpose Mooney’s myopic view of MFA programs serves. Maybe he’s trying to validate his own profession? He’s “…been teaching creative writing at Harvard’s Extension School and their Summer Writing Program, on and off, for the past two decades….” As a writing teacher, his assertions about MFA programs should be credible, but they’re mostly formed by bias and opinion. Mooney writes, “the classes were run by professors, some of whom were published writers, who loved to talk about what made great writing but couldn’t (or wouldn’t) explain what made a great story. Story, more often than not, was secondary.”

One could argue that knowing the structure of a story is all well and good, but not being able to put the story into words renders all the knowledge about story and structure useless. I think most MFA instructors and professors do their best to teach story and good writing in tandem because you can’t really have one without the other (although I would argue good writing by itself can take a writer a lot farther than a good story).

That being said, at the University of Limerick, my first classes were all about story and structure. Story NEVER came second. In fact, I took a whole class devoted to story, to breaking down the structure to isolate what works when and what doesn’t usually work. In that course, Donal Ryan said that “…stories impose order as they are an attempt to make sense of our lives. Therefore, narrative is the basis of everything.” It was the basis of the course.

With a strong sense of skepticism, I read on, and Mooney gives 5 Rules for writing that he claims don’t come from MFA programs.

Rule #1: What Story Do You Want to Tell?

I did learn this in my MFA program. Professors Joseph O’Connor and Kit de Waal taught me the difference between plot-driven stories and character-driven stories. Professor Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and Donal Ryan went through outlining extensively to make sure our stories had structure and shape. They emphasized making sure our stories fit their containers and that it might be helpful to rethink the structure if we were struggling with our projects.

Rule #2: You Must Have Conflict.

No duh. I teach Creative Writing at the high school level, and this is a lesson I teach in the first week. There’s no way MFA programs aren’t teaching writers that they need conflict. To that point, in my second week of classes at UL, international best-selling author Professor Joseph O’Connor said, “Stories that work have a conflict; conflict provides the drama that keeps us reading.”

Rule #3: Always Start With Action.

To be fair to Mr. Mooney, not all MFA programs might teach this “rule” … but mine did. It was a revelation for me when Kit de Waal advised us in UL’s MFA program to “Start whenever! You don’t need ‘Once Upon a Time.’ Find the beginning in the work! Write the easy stuff!”

Rule #4: Always Increase the Stakes … and Don’t Let Up.

This is a tried and true element of creative writing I’ve heard a million and one times, both in and out of any creative writing class I’ve ever taken, so yes, I did learn this in my MFA program.

Rule #5: Prepare Yourself in Advance.

One of the elements I appreciated most in UL’s MFA program in Creative Writing was its focus on self care, in addition to its confrontation of blunt truths. It was individualized, whereas Mr. Mooney’s rules are generic. Writing is an extremely personal act and it looks different for everyone. Some people work great with a detailed outline. Some people work great with a loose list of ideas. Some people work great with an idea and make notes along the way. And if it works, it’s not wrong.

Chris Mooney’s article was more like clickbait than anything else. His “5 Rules” are taught in at least some MFA program, and I can say that because I know they were taught in mine. Thinkers can debate the value of MFA programs (after all, plenty of writers are published without completing one) and that’s fine. What I can attest to from personal experience is that the University of Limerick’s Creative Writing MA program was invaluable to me as a writer, plain and simple.

And I think everyone should enroll in the course. Here’s a video about the program:

The post Considering a MFA program? Read this first! appeared first on mandi bean: writer.