something I am pondering

[rm]

In the wake of the reaction to some of my really good LJ Idol stuff, and a realization I've had about a unifying theme in my work, I am currently considering applying to MFA programs.

Well, not exactly.

I am currently considering applying to the CUNY non-fiction MFA program, because it's local, I think I can get in, and I can afford it.

Pro's?
- having more than a damn BA
- specifically, being qualified enough to teach writing classes, good for the non 9-to-5'ers life (I want to get rid of the Germans).
- Being forced to write
- Gaining structure to what is now at least a moderately structured idea for the non-fiction book people have been trying to get me to write for years.
- Some small credential to help in the publishing game.

Con's?
- Dealing with a school, especially a city school, will make me crazy. I will have to meet obligations I find idiotic and insulting.
- Good-bye free time.
- $$
- Application process: irksome
- Okay, it's a short list, but I can't really emphasize enough how easily annoyed I am.

Issues?
- Writing samples. I could clean up that thing about why I went to Australia and IT WOULD ROCK, but I am afraid the committee would also be all "oh, Jesus fuck, more sex work, SHUT UP."
- I have several great people to ask for recommendations. I feel uncomfortable asking all of them.
- Like Chinese food, this may just seem like a good idea before it actually shows up.


So now you know.


ETA: Having just looked at my transcript, it seems exceedingly unlikely I could possibly be admitted to the program, with an appallingly low GPA both overall and in my major and no real trend of improvement over 4 years. Yup, what I did form 1990 - 1994 DETERMINES ALL. Hey, at least I have a bazillion other careers.

Comments

[rufus.livejournal.com]

I think you should do it. And I would submit your LJ Idol pieces, rather than the NIDA piece (having never even seen it) because if I were on an admissions committee I'd take you on the Tommy Makem story alone.

I've contemplated an MFA at various times at well (most notably right after college, and thank god *that* didn't work out), but never quite got there. I guess, for now, fandom is the writing workshop I need. It certainly is better than some I've actually paid for, over the years.

There are aspects of it that will make you crazy and/or want to stab people, true, but I think at the end you will be glad you did it. You may also wish to check into the Columbia MFA program, and see if it could be bent to your will. (I know, more $$$, but they might have money available, you never know . . .)

And, finally, there was an article in the Atlantic relatively recently (the fiction issue, maybe?) about different MFA programs, which did touch on the NYC programs, and would probably be worth reading.

[rm.livejournal.com]

OH yeah, the Tommy Makem piece. You've seen the NIDA piece -- it was the sexual ethics LJ entry. I have to send two anyway, but I was thinking that one of them would be about the buttons on the maestro's fencing jacket.

The "problem" with the Chieftan's piece is that it's the one thing I have sitting around that isn't in the frame of the book idea, which is about rigor.

[miep.livejournal.com]

does it have to be, as an application piece? I think it highlights your uncanny ability to make the ordinary, extraordinary, and vice versa.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

ahh, ok. I liked that one, and the one about the buttons, as well.

also, my knee-jerk response to the rigor thing is: the hell it isn't.

Irish dance is all *about* rigor, and preciseness, and being able to hit the forms and patterns. there was magic in your moment, too, and that's what carries the piece, but there is rigor also.