Recently a writer friend posed the following question to me and a few other MFAs he knows.
“How has your writing changed from before you entered and graduated the MFA program? Do you see a change in your style or how you approach writing? If so, then why do you think that is? How much of the change is natural evolution someone goes through by writing regularly and how much of the change was directly influenced by the program?”
I actually think about that from time to time, so it was easy to come up with an answer. Thought I’d share it.
Am I a “better” writer having gone through an MFA program? Or merely a different writer? I guess it’s not for me to answer that question, but for readers.
What I can say is that I am a more thoughtful writer. I write deliberately, with far less speed than I did before the program, and I think this is because I have been exposed to styles and techniques and forms that I would never have imagined previously. That’s important because those things I’ve learned give me a greater opportunity to communicate themes and meanings to readers. I am no longer limited to techniques of my own invention, but have access to those of other writers as well, and all that mixes together as I plan and write. And while I could have been exposed to those things on my own, it’s through the MFA that I have been able to more easily acquire and systematize that knowledge so that I can employ it in my own work. I’d estimate the MFA allowed me to compress maybe 10-20 years of reading on my own into 2 years of intense study by helping me focus on the most useful aspects of literary craft and how they are connected to effective writing. Read More…
