After experimenting with a new medium (digital video), I remain convinced that writing conveys character and complexity better than any other I’ve encountered thus far (and I’m including CAVE writing in that). But after watching a couple of television series back-to-back on pirate television stations, I think the best plot-writers are probably working in television [...]

Suggests a structured process of reading and re-reading. The first read is reading as a human, the second as a writer (marking it up), the third re-read is of the last few pages and the fourth focuses on the beginning. Finally the fifth read will hopefully unravel the work’s internal mechanics: the nerves of the [...]

A History of the Future of Narrative: Robert Coover from Scott Rettberg on Vimeo. Robert Coover came to speak with us last week. He’s a writer’s writer for sure, someone who burrows deep into text and wiggles around with it. He lectured on electronic writing, an obscure discipline he’s become an unlikely patron saint of. [...]

Right now, in faculty rooms across the country, admissions officials are trying to winnow out the next batch of Masters of Fine Arts diploma candidates, America’s presumptive writing elite….

Alzheimer’s and parents’ deaths lose their force as plot devices/ emotion tweakers after the 100th read or so; Plagiarizing premises’ from famous short stories dilutes their power; Using graduate school as a setting or graduate students as characters seems lazy and boring; Plot remains paramount – well-written plotless stories dominate slushpiles; The ability to convey [...]

Remove dust jackets from hardcover books before use; Drafts should be completed and started over from the remembered remnants; “Real writing” takes place over winter break; Anxiety is normal and should be encouraged (i.e. the productive kind); Workshop leaders will continue to confuse first-person narrators with their progenitors — even in graduate school; Writing about [...]

I’m including this because during the application process I couldn’t find a single example of a successful MFA statement, so here’s mine: PERSONAL STATEMENT My literary practice began as a reaction to an alien environment, and at its best retains the defiant posture of exile. I was born in London but dragged through a progression [...]