Posts
I've come upon two realizations by now.
First:
Yup, I would rather be getting an MFA. I want an MFA. I'd rather be writing novels than reporting. Reading stories and writing them is my passion and God-given gift. And now I feel like a putz who got off track, all because of my need to please my critical, practical Chinese father.
Second:
I then remembered something somewhat important - I quite dislike MFA writing. Literary magazines hold ZERO appeal to me. I find quite a bit of "literary fiction" to sound exactly the same, have the same cadence, and overuse the verb forms of "arc." I'm not a fan of "experimental" writing and after that requisite teenage phase of form over content, I am now a devotee of plot and story over David Foster Wallace theatrics. I hate David Foster Wallace's
And most of all, I hate short stories.
Just when I thought I reached my pinnacle of jealousy and regret over not getting an MFA, I followed a comment on the legendary MFA Blog to the blog of an MFA-bound gal whose writing bored me to vomiting. And I remembered why I liked the writing of my non-MFA friends and teachers much better.
Round 1
J-school: 0
MFA: -1
1 outraged readers respond:
DFW attended the University of Arizona, and as far as I know, Infinite Jest was his thesis, which none of his professors liked, at all. I haven't read it, but it is on my summer reading list. I feel like I can't talk shit on DFW (which I have previously done) without actually having read any of his work.
On MFA writing and "literary" fiction, I have to somewhat agree with you. I've been reading a lot of literary fiction lately, especially now that StorySouth has selected the nominees for its Million Writers Award, which you can find here: http://www.storysouth.com/millionwriters/2009vote.html
The problem with those stories, it seems to me, is that with the exception of maybe one, they are utterly boring. I agree with you that I have friends who just graduated from Cal, and who were in writing workshops with me, who produce better work on a weekly basis.
At the same time, why are you pursuing journalism if you want to do an MFA? Not all MFA programs churn out useless/boring/pretentious writers. For me especially, John Irving (Iowa alum) and Michael Chabon (Irvine alum) come to mind as really strong writers who went to top MFA programs.
Umm, you don't like short stories? Are you kidding? I would humbly suggest Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain" as one of the best short stories I have ever read, along with Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter."
There's absolutely no doubt that some MFA students will turn out boring work, but does that mean you will as well? I'd say you should have a little more faith in yourself.
Post a Comment