Posted by: jpon | July 14, 2010

Did My MFA Make Me a “Better” Writer?

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…

Posted by: jpon | June 3, 2010

At Last They Can Rest in Peace

Goodbye Charlie Marco. Bless you Aunt Tess. At last I am able to let you go, to discharge you to memory, to leave you to that great graveyard of the writer’s mind.

Charlie, Tess, Orrin Mayfield, Lisa Bender, Bird the waitress, Harry Droll and so many others are, or were, stirrings of my imagination, characters created for stories that never made it into print, or who were cut or altered past recognition during the revision process. They are people of my past, like ancestors I met as a child and never forgot, and who have maintained a haunting presence in my psyche, chanting the words “unfinished,” “unresolved” to me in my sleep.

For a long time I wanted to do them justice, to rework and revise their stories until they were able to live on their own, in some enlightened literary journal or best-selling novel. But it never happened, and as I mature (I hope) as a writer, I have learned the chances of these people seeing print are miniscule. Read More…

Posted by: jpon | May 14, 2010

Anonymously

Recently I was researching web sites that raise funds for nonprofits, as part of a project at work. After a few, I began to notice many incorporated an approach that’s been in use by for-profit companies for years—inflating the importance of the consumer, or in this case, the donor. They emphasized that by making a donation, or becoming involved in a cause, the giver would be noticed—s/he would be something of a “star.”

One site allowed users to create their own “Charity Badge,” with a photo and a list of donations made, which could be displayed on a blog or other site. Another offered a personal area with links to a “My” suite of tools: My friends, My kudos, My click to donate, My whatever.

My God.

This seems somehow antithetical to the idea of charity, which, as I previously understood it, is to give, not get. It was about doing the right thing, not feeding one’s ego. But somehow giving, like almost every other concept, has been transformed into an aspect of self-promotion—what’s my ROI if I contribute? How will it make me look? What’s in it for moi? Read More…

Posted by: jpon | February 18, 2010

Speaking Ill of the Dead, Part 2

So where do you get your news? Take a poll and let’s find out.

The changes in journalism wrought by evil Frankie Magid probably would have occurred anyway. If not him, some other marketing genius would have realized that dumbing down the news would pump up ratings. Forty years later, the challenge, for those who prefer in-depth, unbiased reporting, is where to find good journalism. Certainly not on your local TV news program, and probably not in your local daily newspaper (unless you get the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times or a handful of other august, and failing broadsheets).

For me real news is a moving target. When I was younger I read magazines like Newsweek and Time. But recently a friend sent me a link to a Newsweek story. Although the topic was of some interest, the writing had been clearly diluted to appeal to “everyman.” Ostensibly it was a story about the quest to write the great American novel, but it was filled with “the best,” “the biggest,” and other non-specifics. And it was about a quarter of the length it should have been to really cover the subject. I knew the mass market journals had changed, but since I haven’t read Newsweek (outside of a doctor’s office) in years, I wasn’t sure how much. Read More…

Posted by: jpon | February 11, 2010

Speaking Ill of the Dead

There’s an old adage that warns against speaking ill of the dead, but in the case of Frank Magid I will make an exception.

Magid died last Friday, after a long career in marketing. He is credited with transforming television news from journalism into entertainment. In 1970, he was hired by a Philadelphia TV station to boost ratings of their local news program, and he developed the concept of changing the news to a combination of light features and gossipy reports, all delivered by a heavily coiffed and made-up crew of readers instead of trained journalists, who seemed to spend more time joking among themselves than reporting the issues of the day.

Naturally, it was a hit with viewers, and the style was copied not only by television stations across the country, but also, eventually, by many newspapers and magazines. As corporate interests took over journalism outlets, the bottom line became not investigating to determine the truth, but ratings. Magid, I’m sure, was proud of that. He is reported to have said, “I am only giving the people what they want.” Hey Frank, how about giving the people what they need? Read More…

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