I'm at a strange point to answer this because I almost didn't do an MFA, and by the time I did, I had already written a book and signed a contract for it. I'm now in my final year of a 2-year program stretched over three years.
I almost didn't do an MFA because I had already found many of the things that people go to MFAs for: craft, community, and a self-made structure, held together by fellowships and local workshops, that helped my writing along. I was convinced, however, that an MFA would be needed if I ever wanted to teach at the university level.
Friends, down the line, told me this wasn't true. It isn't. Although I have learned, through the nitty-gritty of compensation discussions, that degrees do affect the way my pay as a teacher will be evaluated on hire at universities, you can teach writing without a degree (though jury's out on whether the requirement is that you have a published book).
After making the financial aspect work without having to take out loans, what I got most out of an MFA was time. I learned, retroactively, that the MFA is a transition space for me: one where I stepped away from my full-time job part-time and then full-time, exactly the way my career turned out. It has been a place for me to detach from the rigid structure of a 9-5 while still having an immense amount of freedom to create one that was right for my writing. I feel really, really grateful for that fact. While this may not be the way it might work for you, I found that it made a difference for me, mentally, to have that time to explore.
I didn't do an MFA but I did get an MTS (masters in theological studies) as a kind of sideways attempt to find more time to write/pause and reassess my whole *~career~*. I spent a few (very unfulfilled and weird!) years working in publishing, and needed to find a way to pause and breathe and get away from that whole situation, which felt a little closed-in and claustrophobic, especially as someone who (in an ideal world) will also be engaging with publishing as an author eventually. (I will say though, that I learned a lot about the usually-opaque publishing process, what people were paying attention to "on the inside," and that being nice to your editorial assistants is really important, I still absolutely stan a newberry award winning children's book author that sent me like 3 nice emails and a box of caramels at the holidays)
While the MTS/theology degrees is pretty unique in that it is more or less what you make of it, and most of my professors were really into me turning in creative work (vs. academic writing, which I did do some of), I do think there's a way to find other graduate programs that are closer to your writing subjects that give you that time and space to work that Yanyi is talking about. I really loved both the constrictions and the expansions that writing on certain topics gave me (ok, the subject is sacramental theology but I really care about translation studies right now, how do I write about ritual and iterativity in a cool way while talking about food and translation and the eucharist?) I started a book draft in div school, and it allowed me not only time but the kind of roaming, circulating reading that I think really helped my writing.
My one regret is not getting pedagogical experience, mostly bc I do want to teach at the university level at some point. While I was mostly supported in grad school by my parents (they paid my rent and my tuition/university fees including healthcare, I did everything else), I also got sweet ass health insurance that allowed me to resolve a chronic health condition, which has a HUGE effect on how much I'm able to write now (turns out writing is a lot easier when you aren't in continual pain? wild)
Hi Yanyi- you may have covered this already, but how were you able to complete your MFA without taking out loans? I know there are fully and partially funded MFA's, but I've read Columbia's is one of the most expensive programs. Would you be willing to share a rough breakdown of how you were able to cover the costs? Thanks!
I'm at a strange point to answer this because I almost didn't do an MFA, and by the time I did, I had already written a book and signed a contract for it. I'm now in my final year of a 2-year program stretched over three years.
I almost didn't do an MFA because I had already found many of the things that people go to MFAs for: craft, community, and a self-made structure, held together by fellowships and local workshops, that helped my writing along. I was convinced, however, that an MFA would be needed if I ever wanted to teach at the university level.
Friends, down the line, told me this wasn't true. It isn't. Although I have learned, through the nitty-gritty of compensation discussions, that degrees do affect the way my pay as a teacher will be evaluated on hire at universities, you can teach writing without a degree (though jury's out on whether the requirement is that you have a published book).
After making the financial aspect work without having to take out loans, what I got most out of an MFA was time. I learned, retroactively, that the MFA is a transition space for me: one where I stepped away from my full-time job part-time and then full-time, exactly the way my career turned out. It has been a place for me to detach from the rigid structure of a 9-5 while still having an immense amount of freedom to create one that was right for my writing. I feel really, really grateful for that fact. While this may not be the way it might work for you, I found that it made a difference for me, mentally, to have that time to explore.
I didn't do an MFA but I did get an MTS (masters in theological studies) as a kind of sideways attempt to find more time to write/pause and reassess my whole *~career~*. I spent a few (very unfulfilled and weird!) years working in publishing, and needed to find a way to pause and breathe and get away from that whole situation, which felt a little closed-in and claustrophobic, especially as someone who (in an ideal world) will also be engaging with publishing as an author eventually. (I will say though, that I learned a lot about the usually-opaque publishing process, what people were paying attention to "on the inside," and that being nice to your editorial assistants is really important, I still absolutely stan a newberry award winning children's book author that sent me like 3 nice emails and a box of caramels at the holidays)
While the MTS/theology degrees is pretty unique in that it is more or less what you make of it, and most of my professors were really into me turning in creative work (vs. academic writing, which I did do some of), I do think there's a way to find other graduate programs that are closer to your writing subjects that give you that time and space to work that Yanyi is talking about. I really loved both the constrictions and the expansions that writing on certain topics gave me (ok, the subject is sacramental theology but I really care about translation studies right now, how do I write about ritual and iterativity in a cool way while talking about food and translation and the eucharist?) I started a book draft in div school, and it allowed me not only time but the kind of roaming, circulating reading that I think really helped my writing.
My one regret is not getting pedagogical experience, mostly bc I do want to teach at the university level at some point. While I was mostly supported in grad school by my parents (they paid my rent and my tuition/university fees including healthcare, I did everything else), I also got sweet ass health insurance that allowed me to resolve a chronic health condition, which has a HUGE effect on how much I'm able to write now (turns out writing is a lot easier when you aren't in continual pain? wild)
Hi Yanyi- you may have covered this already, but how were you able to complete your MFA without taking out loans? I know there are fully and partially funded MFA's, but I've read Columbia's is one of the most expensive programs. Would you be willing to share a rough breakdown of how you were able to cover the costs? Thanks!