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Open Call: Favorite Poetry Exercises
In honor of National Poetry Month, April's writing challenge will focus on poetry. We've never solicited exercises specifically for poetry here before (though happily some have come in anyway), and this seemed a good time to do so. Submit your favorite poetry exercise in the comments below or via the submission form, and we'll choose one for next month's writing challenge. (If you have a fiction writing exercise, feel free to share that, too. We may use it at some future time, and your fellow writers can use it now.) Thanks, everyone, both for your suggestions here and those submitted previously. We appreciate your input.
Open Call: Favorite Poetry Exercises originally appeared on About.com Fiction Writing on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 13:22:25.
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March Writing Challenge: Historical Writing
For the March challenge, write a poem, prose poem, or short-short story from the point of view of an historical figure. The phrase "historical figure" may be taken broadly -- anyone from Nicholas I to Nellie Bly's mom is fair game. Be as creative as you'd like.
So far we've had a huge range of responses: a story based on a little-known episode from WWII, a humorous presidential portrait, and a letter "From Sigmund to Mother," to highlight a few. The challenge will be open until March 31, so take some time in the next few weeks to give it a shot.
March Writing Challenge: Historical Writing originally appeared on About.com Fiction Writing on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 08:35:00.
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Reader Question: An MFA at Age 42?
Last week, I heard from a 42-year-old writer who was applying to MFA programs and having doubts about it. He wrote, "I hear this stuff about how conventional writing and publishing is dead, that even really good young writers can't break out because the industry is closing down or morphing into something more media-oriented. And I wonder, what's the point of getting an MFA now? Will any book I write ever get distribution?"
In response to his first question, about the publishing industry, I answered, "Books will continue to be written and published, but the publishing world is in crisis right now, and until they figure out how to resolve it, it will be harder for us writers. Even ones who do publish will be keeping their day jobs -- but then, hasn't this been the case throughout history? How much did Jane Austen make from her books, for instance? We might have it better today, even with our current problems."
But is an MFA program worthwhile, if publication is the goal, especially if it means taking time out from a paying career? "If you can afford to take a few years out of the workplace and focus on your writing within an MFA program, especially one that offers funding, then do so -- but don't expect it to lead to quick or easy success. If publication is your main goal, you could also take classes outside of a degree program and assemble a good writing group who can help you finish and revise your novel. Subscribe to Poets and Writers magazine; start sending your stories to literary magazines.
"On the other hand, MFA programs do provide support and give you the chance to be around writers, both the professionals who come to teach and unpublished colleagues. It's an opportunity to exist in a world in which literature and writing is the most important thing. If you think that one day you might want to teach at the college level, an MFA will be necessary. And you'll come out of it a bit savvier about the publishing world. You'll be more serious about your craft. But you can't really think of it as a financial investment, as you would an MBA or a law degree, or even a teaching degree. It would have to be something you're doing for yourself, because you want this time to write."
But these are very hard questions to answer, and I can only speak from my own experience. What do others have to say? For those of us in the middle of life who aren't living on a trust fund, for whom an education requires a degree of sacrifice, is an MFA worth doing? Or are there other routes to literary success that make more sense? What advice do you have?
Reader Question: An MFA at Age 42? originally appeared on About.com Fiction Writing on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 10:22:36.
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