/lit/ - Literature

From my experience as an MFA fiction grad from a top-10 program:

PROS:

- if you get accepted into a prestigious program, your chance to get published increases (several of my classmates sold their MS to major houses)
- if you're not a total sperg, you'll make friends with those who can help you establish a literary career (when you do get published, you can call on these ppl to interview you & review your work)
- your prose will likely improve
- you'll develop a good understanding of "baseline" norms for contemporary literary fiction, which will give you a better sense of what interests editors
- again, if you're not a sperg, you'll get pussy
- the parties can be fun

CONS:

- regardless of what anyone tells you, or how kind it seems at the time, workshops function like Maoist struggle sessions: they can help writers avoid shitty writing, but they also erode interesting idiosyncrasies; bc of this, your voice will likely suffer
- if you hold non-liberal views, and don't find a way to secret them, you're going to have a bad time (I've seen ppl dog piled in workshop on issues related to identity politics)
- even if you're getting a stipend and free tuition, an MFA alone will rarely gets you much after the program is over. Plan to be broke
- a significant portion of your classmates won't be serious about writing, but enter the program as a kind of "lifestyle" statement
- another portion will be spergs. they'll cling to the artificial social group that forms wi the program and cause annoyance. a number of these will end up as YA authors
- fakes and spergs are typically bad readers, and can fuck good writing up through shitty critiques. it can be tough figuring out what advice to take, and which to ignore

TIPS IF YOU GET IN TO A GOOD PROGRAM:

- be selective about whose critiques you accept. when you read other ppls submissions, determine their strengths and weaknesses. only accept critiques based on their strengths
- BE DECENT TO EVERYONE. you might be shocked to learn who ultimately succeeds. some of the worst writers you meet will get jobs as editors and agents. if you're serious about a career, you might need them later. i've seen good writers fucked bc they offended bad writers who eventually held positions of (relative) power
- understand that it'll take about 2 - 3 years to forget the social conditioning of workshop and regain your voice. don't get too depressed during this period.
- don't get caught up in MFA social politics and hen-pecking. be friendly, but keep a slight distance
- if you do fuck a lot of the women, as some guys will, fuck them hard and be respectful. women will talk long after the MFA is over, and women are usually the ones who get jobs in the publishing industry. happy ex-lovers are excellent friends to have