Writing Programs

I was commiserating last eve with a friend whose writing income has declined radically, even though he is probably the top writer in his nonfiction field, and as he noted, had several years when he was earning more than the president.

But times have changed. Markets for writing have dried up. Magazines have shrunk, along with their advertising. Books make best-seller lists selling far fewer copies than what was ordinary a few years ago.

I make money writing popular fiction, mostly historical novels but also westerns and mysteries. But my income's declined too. At least I still get contracts.

I put my friend onto a fascinating website, the home page of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the umbrella organization of academic creative writing programs, most of which lead to a MFA in creative writing. They are lucrative, so most every college and university offers such courses. The website lists some 800. And you can weed out the ones you don't want, and focus on ones that serve your purposes.

Almost none of them offer courses in popular or genre fiction, which is deemed unfit for university-level instruction. But popular fiction is where the money is, and those 6000 students who graduate each year with MFAs in creative writing are fit only to teach the next generation of wannabes.

There are probably more MFA creative writing grads pouring into the marketplace each year than there are professional writers making a living.