One of the great things about having a blog is that you can answer questions no one has asked and pontificate on things you are underqualified to even have an opinion about. This is one of those days where I get to talk from the seat of my pants about some ideas I’ve been tossing around at random hours that I will probably never have an opportunity to implement. Who doesn’t love the Internet?
So, I ask myself, how would you run a creative writing program?
Thanks for asking, Nathan. Here’s what I would do, in bullet points:
1) Decide upon the goal of the program
Is the goal of my creative writing program a) to give life to short stories, verily an art form unto itself, but which the reading public does not generally pay attention to unless they’re taking a creative writing class and/or trying to place something with the New Yorker? Are universities bastions of arts, poetry, short stories, and classes like Syllogism in Synechdotal Passages in Semi-ironic Transcendental 1890s Irish Poetry, which, though abstract, are important to the advancement of human thought, arts, and culture?
Or is the goal of my creative writing program b) to teach students how to advance their writing careers, as in, write works for which they might have a gameful possibility of future writerly employment in the current (and likely future) market, as in, novels and full-length narrative nonfiction?
Both types of programs have their place. Although if it’s the art for the sake of art kind, I better have some serious funding and the tuition better be free, because I’d hate to charge students a lot of money for a program for which they will have a dim prospect of gaining back the money in future writerly earnings. Learning how to write good short stories does not exactly set one on the path to repaying $40,000 in debt.
Let’s go with the b) type of program: preparing a writer for the writing market he/she will face upon graduation.
2) Determine what kind of book the students want to write
Writing advice is not generally one-size fits all. A sentence is not just a sentence. And authors should know the genre they’re writing in so they can hone their craft.
Genre fiction is one track. Literary fiction is another track. Narrative nonfiction is another, and serious/technical nonfiction still another. And I’m sure there are more.
But learning the customs, expectations, structure, and, most importantly, history of the genre should be a goal of the program. If you’re writing genre fiction, you should know the important authors that paved the way. If you’re writing narrative nonfiction, you should know the proper balance between fictionalization and historical accuracy. Some authors do this on their own, but nothing beats having a teacher guide the education process.
3) Teach plot first.
Plot comes first. Style comes second.
Without a good plot, a novel doesn’t stand a chance. And yet how many MFA programs teach plot?
I’d teach plot. Macro plot, micro plot, scene building, acts, countering expectations, climaxes and nadirs, pacing, and organization. Plot plot plot plot plot. Plot.
This goes for nonfiction too. Good nonfiction has an underlying arc and a satisfying conclusion as well. It’s not the same arc as a novel, but it’s there.
4) Teach style second.
After plot comes style. But in that order. You have to have a skeleton underneath your skin or else you’re just an unappealing pile of flesh.
(We’ll teach strange imagery too.)
Style is what separates literary fiction from genre fiction, and what elevates some writers of genre fiction into those exalted writers with both literary and genre cred. Style is important.
5) Emphasize networking and self-promotion
As anyone who has embarked on the path to publication knows, writing a book is the easy part. A university has the resources to bring in agents, industry professionals, and book marketing experts in order to educate the writers on how to go about the process of publication. For instance, MFA grads have a reputation for writing terrible query letters. Why should that be??? My MFA grads would learn to write pristine query letters that make agents weep with joy.
Now, if my MFA program sounds a bit mercenary…. guilty. I would judge the success of the program by how many authors found publication after they graduated.
That said, I would never devalue the merits of short stories and having universities serve as incubators for important arts for which there is not a ready marketplace. There is a ton to be said for that, and I wouldn’t want to impugn anyone who devotes themselves to the important cultural preservation of poetry and short stories.
But if your goal is to write a full-length book that you’ll be able to sell upon graduation…. come get your MFA from The Nathan Bransford School of Hard Knocks: Getting Published Ain’t Easy, Son.
You’ll be glad you did.
Madison says
I’m actually going to be taking some creative writing courses soon, and I can’t wait! No, publishing ain’t easy, but when you’re doing something you love, somehow, that just doesn’t matter!
bryan russell says
Some simple practicality in our Universities? It may be too much to ask for. Having received a few degrees, including an MA in Creative Writing, I must say it seems like asking for sanity in the asylum.
Though if you want a Teaching Assistant for your program I’m game. What’s the pay like?
Marilyn Peake says
Nathan –
So, where do we sign up? 🙂 Seriously, though, have you ever thought about teaching an online course? I have an English Lit minor, but – you’re right – many college programs never mention how to sell or market novels. I would hate to see literature programs teach only what’s popular, kind of like having T.V. Production programs extol the virtues of some really bad T.V. shows with high ratings. Still, it would be fantastic to learn more about literature that sells and how to market it.
C.D. Reimer says
I’m planning to become a full time writer in five years by writing a novel a year which one hopefully becomes a breakout novel. After that I’m to go back to school to major in history and minor in English (creative writing). When that’s done, I should have at least four or five novels published. Would pursuing a MFA degree make sense for me?
Steve Ulfelder says
If I took over a creative writing program, I would immediately disband it – and be a hero.
Hattie says
When are you starting, Nathan? 😉 Great program ideas! They sound like what I did when I taught writing in high school. Of course, I taught at a lower level — it was high school after all. But you’re write. You have to have a strong frame before you can even begin to polish the chassis. Otherwise, there’s really no chassis to polish, is there?
Snarky Writer says
I would apply for this program. I finally decided to skip my MFA and go straight to a PhD in Literature because:
1) Almost none of the programs would allow me to write fantasy (my strongest genre);
2) Almost all of the programs seemed to be peopled by snobs;
3) I’ve heard nothing but bad about MFA programs in general, mostly that they don’t believe good writing can be TAUGHT, but is an innate ability (then what’s the point of having a writing program?).
But I’d definitely postpone my doctorate for a couple of years to attend a program like this. 🙂
Yat-Yee says
Sign me up.
Michael says
I’m applying to graduate programs in creative writing right now. Nathan, how do I apply for yours?
David says
Er, ah, cough, cough, those aren’t bullet points. They’re numbered points.
That would be a great MFA program. Preparing students for the world they’ll actually be dealing with — what a concept!
lauren says
I was lucky enough to have a commercial fiction writer as my instructor for an advanced fiction writing course I took in college. Wish I could have cloned him and made him my instructor for all my other writing courses, too. He even schooled us a bit on the agent-getting process and publication process (and was candid enough to admit that he got his agent strictly through family connections. Esther Newburg!!!).
Still, a once-a-week seminar with a commercial novelist wasn’t enough to school this writer completely out of her plotless ways. I’ve found that scriptwriting books (like your oft-recommended STORY, as well as Blake Snyder’s SAVE THE CAT) are the best for teaching plot and structure.
If I were designing an MFA program, I’d have students take back-to-back classes from a literary short-story writer and a commercial script writer, just to completely screw with their heads. In a good way. I think. Bwahaha.
Susan Helene Gottfried says
I’ve got my MFA, from a top school — but I was the outcast because while I write well, my stories were all dreadful. They didn’t fit the famed workshop format. In fact, they read like they needed to be novels. So my classmates begged me to write novels instead and they’d suck it up and figure out how to workshop them.
Did it do me a disservice? You betcha.
There’s a school in Texas, I think it is, that runs this sort of MFA program, Nathan. I was talking to a romance author at last year’s RT Convention about it. It made me wish I could start over.
spinregina says
I’m in; sign me up. I mean it.
I would argue, however, that style is first and plot second. Who cares if the story is good if the method of telling is terrible?
Seriously, though, I would sign up in a heartbeat to either attend in person or online.
Kate H says
Nathan, go out and start that school NOW! I’ll sign up and bring my friends!
judi says
spinregina said-“Who cares if the story is good if the method of telling is terrible?”
um, readers? esp the readers forking out the cash? I can name ten bestsellers off the top of my head that had great stories but the writing was just horrible. I could double that number if I spent a little time pondering it.
to be marketable, a novel must have a great story. it doesn’t, however, NEED to have great style. huge difference.
Kate H says
Oh, and one more point I wonder if you’d agree with: Scrap the peer critique model. The opinions of people who are at the same writing level can sometimes be helpful, but just as often can be entirely misleading. So many seem to want you to write their kind of book instead of your own.
Plus, the time it takes to review everybody else’s stuff takes away from the limited time one has for one’s own writing.
Margaret Yang says
I attended this school!
I did it on my own time, in my own way, by studying a whole shelf full of how-to-write books and writing a ton. I actually did the exercises in the books, I didn’t just read them. Donald Maass, Blake Snyder, Bruce Holland Rogers and Lawrence Block were my professors.
It would have shortened my learning curve a whole lot if I could have done this via a college program.
Heidi says
I LOVE this post!
I have debated for several years about whether to get an MFA. Frankly, it ends up being more about wanting to have those letters after my name and a diploma on my wall (and to not be the only one in my family without a graduate degree), than about the education I’d get. Because the programs I looked at weren’t like yours.
I’m not convinced getting an MFA is going to help me support myself as a writer (let alone paying back that tuition). And I’ve already done the teaching thing.
Maybe agents and editors should run these schools??
sex scenes at starbucks says
I think this sounds wonderful, Nathan, except for one small disagreement. I would argue (as several successful novelists did this weekend at a conference, including Jim Butcher and Carrie Vaughn) that the short form makes wonderful novel training grounds. I think the problem with MFA programs is that the focus is almost always on literary rather than commercial fiction.
And, also, in some genres (speculative fiction) short stories are not dead! In fact, many authors use the short form to gain credits and promote their names.
Kate says
Mercenary can be good. There are too many artists with their heads in the clouds who work hard all through school and now are waiting tables. Nothing wrong with that, but they thought it would be easy. It’s not.
I went through music school. I know.
Anonymous says
c.d. reimer, you are kidding, right?
If you aren’t please stick around this site and other pub sites for a very long time. One cannot plan writing a breakout novel, if it were that easy, trust me we all would’ve done it by now.
It requires not just good writing, but a hell of a lot of luck, having a publisher pluck up your novel and making it a lead title (which almost never happens) and flooding the marketplace with publicity for it. Buzz creates breakouts (as well as good writing) and only a few books per season get this type of “buzz” generating around them.
You can’t trust this to happen, in fact, you cannot trust that even one of the five novels you plan on writing will get published, much less be a breakout. It’s so very competitive out there, our intentions much of the time do not match up to the realities of the business.
I’d wish you luck, but I’m too busy wishing myself luck, if you get that joke, then you understand where I’m coming from here…
Loren Eaton says
The Writer wrote an article like this in their January 2008 issue. It was entitled, “Letter to a naïve MFA student.” The conclusion? Skip the short stories and go straight for the novel.
Anonymous says
Let’s let that old saw twang again: Masters of Fine Arts is a terminal, ‘art’-oriented, as opposed to a professional degree. Students are theoretically expected to understand plot, character-building etc. when they enter the program. The Masters of Fine Arts is meant to teach students how to place their work in a critical dialogue and historical context. It has nothing to do with publishing or making money. Go to a top-tier program and this what you’ll get, anything else is a swindle.
jnantz says
Yup, I’m in. Send me an Application, please!
Adaora A. says
VERY interesting Nathan. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before (or if you’d even remember with the volume of commentary you get here), but my profs are teaching style primarily and style as a secondary thing. They aren’t going into what ‘form’ of writing a student wants to get into until something like last year. I’m not just saying this to flater you, but I think you have the right idea. I think people should know what they want – and have it be clear to them what a program offers. All of this should before they pay the money, and before they invest the time and effort. Students switch in and out of majors everyday for this reason. They don’t know what they want but they know what they are in, ISN’T what they want at all. I was one of those students.
clindsay says
Oh, HELL YEAH!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for writing this.
And the tradition of bad query letters from MFAs continues. Last week I had a query from an MFA at a rather prestigious school that – when printed out – was three pages long. Single spaced.
Number of paragraphs devoted to hook: 0
Number of paragraphs devoted to plot: 0
Number of paragraphs devoted to THEME (the bane of my existence!): 4
Number of paragraphs devoted to blurbs by other people in the MFA program saying how great this author was: 6
Number of paragraphs to preening on paper and rattling off writing credentials: 6
It was excruciating.
Weeping into my beer,
Colleen
Anonymous says
But why go to a university if your goal is to writer commercial fiction?
All the education you need is on the shelves of your nearest chain store. Read. Then write.
Anonymous says
CLindsey (and Nathan too), how would you guys judge the quality of top-tier MFA writing that you receive?
I hate to even suggest this, but you may be getting the dregs of those programs. The top students in top programs are probably sniped by the Nicole Aragis of the world who show up and lecture at those schools…
Nathan Bransford says
anon@10:29-
That’s a good point, and I don’t want to demean MFA grads in general. But in my opinion, even if it’s just one class devoted to it, no one should leave an MFA program, whatever its intent, without learning how to write a query. Sure, the goal of some writing programs is not to train writers for the real writing world and that’s fine, but realistically, most fancy themselves writers and most will try and find representation when they’re done.
Mark Terry says
I’d hate to charge students a lot of money for a program for which they will have a dim prospect of gaining back the money in future writerly earnings
Uhhh…. wouldn’t you pretty much have to wipe out ANY fiction writing program on the basis of that statement? Along with the majority of liberal arts programs, including music, art, sculpture, dance…?
acpaul says
Nathan,
If you offer this course online, sign me up.
I agree with many of my colleagues who read this post, the MFA programs out there are horrible. They're particularly horrible if you write SF&F.
I've heard that Clarion's a good workshop for that genre, but it focuses on the short story, not the novel.
Kristan says
Sign me up!
clindsay says
anonymous 10:29 –
I have to be honest here; I judge on the writing alone (both the query writing and the pages I receive), as well as any past publication history the author may have. I tend to stop reading when it gets an author’s education because it has no relevance for me.
I’ve seen queries from high-school kids and young people just starting college that were as polished (indeed, sometimes more so!) as anything I’ve ever received from a writer coming out of a post-graduate writing program.
Ultimately, it will always come down to your writing.
Best,
Colleen
Kat Harris says
Nathan said:I would judge the success of the program by how many authors found publication after they graduated.
Geez, you’re not putting any pressure on yourself there, Nathan.
Just out of curiosity, does this school have scholarships? I’m a dirt poor writer, and your school sounds expensive.
Gerri says
Nathan,
You should check out the Stonecoast MFA.
https://www.usm.maine.edu/stonecoastmfa/
They have a low-residency MFA, which means you show up twice a year on campus, and everything else is on the Internet. They also have a popular fiction emphasis, which is what I’m really interested in.
Anonymous says
(I am 10:02 and 10:29) – The thinking goes, I suspect, is why waste time having James Woods explain how to write a query letter? Most writers can figure out how to write one pretty easily (by reading at your site, for example). For better or for worse, MFAs are designed to be insulated from the marketplace.
Not to take potshots at your post, MFAs are such a weird confluence of class-consciousness, gatekeeping and badly explained inside baseball… that it’s no wonder people freak out over them
Amber says
This might be the ONE MFA program I might attend. I’ve heard from many people (Inc. published authors) that getting their MFA was the absolute worst thing they’d ever done for their writing career. Talk about spending years unlearning the things college taught them.
My degree is in computers – does that help me at all trying to be a writer 🙂
Erik says
Sounds great, as far as it goes. But isn’t it rather, um, important for people to have a marketable skill that pays?
I know, this is a Masters of Fine Arts, not Industrial Arts. But it seems to me that since people have this nasty habit of eating it might be a good idea to be sure they have some skill that they can use to make money in the field while they get their work written.
The easiest way out is to insist that people have said skill as part of the BA (or BS) before coming into your program, which would be great. Insisting that they have a wee bit of life experience would also be nice. 🙂
matt raymond says
As a drop out of fairly prestigious MFA program, I agree to a certain extent that MFA programs lack any practical classes. However, I also think, at least in terms of literary fiction that great writing can’t really be taught, except by reading the great writers. Great writing is about breaking rules, which is a very hard thing to teach. When I got to my “prestigious” MFA program (moving completely across the country to do so) I was astounded that my workshopmates were not readers of literary fiction. Hence, their writing was about the level of a beginning undergraduate writing class (crap).
My comment to Nathan is, doesn’t the industry. as well as the academy, have an obligation or interest in promoting “art” rather than just “genre”? It used to. The vibe is so anti literature that for those of us dedicated to it, well it seems hopeless. Do any publishers see writers as an investment that may take a lifetime to pay off, or are they only in it for the short term gain?
Anonymous says
clindsey-
That’s the great thing about writing (unlike art), once you strip away the context it is either worth reading or it isn’t.
An MFA is really about placing writing in a critical discourse. They create an intoxicating pseudo hierarchy, I think these programs aren’t candid enough about what they really are, and are responsible for way too much much jealousy and debt-related misery.
Nathan Bransford says
matt-
The publishing industry is a big place, and it accommodates both commercial and artistic projects, everything from Paris Hilton to Stephen Dixon. It’s always been a mix of the two, and it’s always been a business.
Dana says
Sign me up!
Seriously… you should do an online version. I’d pay for it. 🙂
Kristin Laughtin says
I like #5. I haven’t ever been in an MFA program myself, but know several who have (and several others who got their BAs in various creative writing programs), and their main complaint seems to be that they leave with no real idea of how to pursue a writing career. They’ve learned the craft and are urged to submit as much as possible, but any knowledge of query letters or submission guidelines has come from outside research on their parts.
dan radke says
I think I heard ‘query letter’ said once while earning my creative writing degree.
Maybe twice.
clindsay says
Matt –
“Commercial success” and “literary fiction” don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Many great literary writers become extraordinarily successful.
I think what Nathan and I are both trying to say is that it would make sense for an MFA program to also offer at least one intensive on the business side of publishing. Law schools and medical schools do this; why should an MFA program be any less responsible toward its student body?
Best,
Colleen
lotusloq says
After what clindsay said, it’s nice to know that my query as it stands is only one page long! Yea! I learned that already from the Nathan Bransford school. One thing down! Now the question is: Is it good enough?
I’d be signing up for your class. When do we start? : )
Erik says
Matt sed:
I also think, at least in terms of literary fiction that great writing can’t really be taught, except by reading the great writers.
I am quite certain that’s correct. I don’t know where I stack up in the world of writing skill – certainly, some people have gone pretty far out of their way to dis me, meaning I either really suck or I pose a serious threat.
While I need some training in how to organize my work and which details to pay attention to, I learn more from Pushkin and Steinbeck than I ever could from a class. What I need more than anything is practice.
I’m always curious as to what people think they got with their MFA because it’s always seemed a bit mysterious to me. Your call that it’s not worth much could be true, but a lot of people apparently think otherwise and enter the programs all the time.
There are some mechanical things that need to be learned, it’s true. There are some things that can’t be taught, including how to develop believable characters. I’m not a great judge of all of this because I have no idea what people supposedly learn now. What I can say is that a bit of coaching is very helpful – along with some Marquez and Buck.
Anonymous says
But that’s just it – Business and Law schools are professional programs. An MFA is an art degree. If they acted like a professional degree program it would kill any pretense of literature as an art-form!
Billy says
Where were you when I was in college? (Dumb question–you were a kid.) My MFA program taught me to be a second class citizien at a second class university, teaching others about plot and style and characterization with not a thought as to whether they were going to write, teach, or sell cheeseburgers. It’s good to see a solid curriculum.
~Billy
http://www.publexicon.com
Jeanne says
I agree with those who are pro plot over style. But, I was a Journalism Major so I’m a “give me the facts” kind of person. However, I have read some very blandly written books just because I was interested in the content- the facts. For instance, I’m a big fan of books about Tudor England. This summer I devoured one that was based upon a great deal of research. Yes, it was Historical Fiction and the author had to use their imagination to create the story but the cleanliness of the plot and attention to certain details were what held my attention. In contrast, I recently had to give up reading a book written with great artistic flare, but also strayed off plot constantly. I found it boring.
The best books marry plot and skill. I guess that creating that magical combination is the hard part.