My MFA didn't provide much exposure to the publishing industry, except to repeatedly tell us that our lives would be full of rejection. The focus was on writing, which I suppose is okay, but today I would look for a statistic along the lines of what percentage of alumnx get published, on line or by traditional publisher, or what percentage feel that an MFA helped them with career development/advancement.
Your timeline sounds fairly accurate to me, though you did not include the step of getting an MFA, which for me was looking for validation by getting a degree that was otherwise mostly meaningless, but the validation floated my boat higher and ultimately in commitment and determination.
I like the idea of an MFA. Especially a program which would expose the writer to the publishing industry. I got a degree in English lit. That exposed me to the publishing industry, too. The one in the Nineteenth Century : )
No matter what you say, I still love doing it, Richard :) - mostly for that moment when suddenly the perfect line is there (I think, lol!), when the story that was going nowhere finds its groove... the is priceless.
My MFA didn't provide much exposure to the publishing industry, except to repeatedly tell us that our lives would be full of rejection. The focus was on writing, which I suppose is okay, but today I would look for a statistic along the lines of what percentage of alumnx get published, on line or by traditional publisher, or what percentage feel that an MFA helped them with career development/advancement.
Nice.
Your timeline sounds fairly accurate to me, though you did not include the step of getting an MFA, which for me was looking for validation by getting a degree that was otherwise mostly meaningless, but the validation floated my boat higher and ultimately in commitment and determination.
I like the idea of an MFA. Especially a program which would expose the writer to the publishing industry. I got a degree in English lit. That exposed me to the publishing industry, too. The one in the Nineteenth Century : )
No matter what you say, I still love doing it, Richard :) - mostly for that moment when suddenly the perfect line is there (I think, lol!), when the story that was going nowhere finds its groove... the is priceless.
Yep. Indeed! 💕
The short version, indeed! Rinse, repeat!