5 Things I Learned from my MFA
Lessons from the aspiring writer’s degree of choice
In recent decades, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing has become a common prerequisite for pursuing a career as a novelist or poet.
Responding in part to the lack of apprenticeships in the writing field, the MFA-style “writer’s workshop” concept originated at the University of Iowa in 1936. Extremely — and I mean extremely — competitive programs offer degrees at high costs that, unlike MBAs or JDs, do not necessarily lead to work placement or publication prospects.
The MFA paper chase thus deserves a fair amount of skepticism. An MFA degree, at the very least, is an important credential in pursuing teaching jobs in those fields at a university level.
An MFA can be an important step on the way to becoming a writer, but it is not the only step nor the only route. While an aspiring writer is probably better off learning if an MFA is right for them on their own, perhaps some key takeaways could be offered in advance.
Here are five things I learned from my MFA degree at the University of Nevada, Reno.
