Honing Your Craft (OR, What do you mean, graduate school?)

Howdy! I’m Shayda Bakhshi. I write children's and YA fiction, which is totally the best kind. I'm working on my MFA in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I live in Central Texas with a crazy dog named Giada, and am planning my wedding to a cute boy I met in college. You can check out my blog, Shayda Writes, here.

Firstly, thanks so much to Misha for having me on her awesome blog! I was going to do a post on something completely different, but as I near the end of my first semester at VCFA, I thought it would be apropos to write about something pertinent to the “now” in my writing life.

So. Graduate school. And writing. And YOU. Yes, you, dear writer.

I wasn’t so sure about graduate school, myself. After all, who needs college at all to be a writer? There are plenty of successful authors who’ve never been to college, and there’ll be many more.

So you definitely don’t need an MFA.
 
But here’s why I wanted one, and why you might, too:

·         Two years of writing the kind of fiction that I love. For school. For a terminal degree. WIN-WIN-WIN.

·         Close, hands-on faculty mentorship. Each semester, I’m taken under the wing of a wonderful, successful author who offers priceless feedback on my creative and critical work.

·         Intensive 10-day residencies. These include lectures by amazing authors (most of whom are faculty), serious workshops, and a close-knit community of competent writers who are serious about their craft.

·         Serious scholarly study of children’s and YA literature. I wanted a program that treated juvenile literature as academically relevant and important in our literary culture. Because it is.

If these points appeal to you, go for it. Research. Look at all different types of programs—low-residency, traditional, summer, etc. Because if you’re serious about writing, there’s nothing more important than honing your craft. MFA programs—especially in the children’s/YA field—are some of the most nurturing, amazing places for your craft to grow and blossom.

WHY I CHOSE VCFA:

I chose VCFA for its self-directed curriculum, its award-winning faculty, and its flexibility; because it’s a low-residency program, students are on campus only ten days of the semester. The residency is basically an awesome, intensive writers’ convention, and the rest of your creative and critical work is done at home on your time, with extensive communication and feedback from your faculty mentor. Low-residency setup is great for people who have full-time jobs and families, so don’t let obligations at home deter you—you can still enjoy working on an MFA and keep your life intact.

HOW TO GET STARTED:

The absolute best place to start researching MFA programs in writing for children and young adults is here. This post from Through the Tollbooth was instrumental in guiding my MFA program research. Bonus: It’s run by VCFA graduates!

And if you’re interested in regular creative writing MFA programs, there’s a wealth of information in the “College Aids/Planning” section of most (if not all) bookstores. The bonus here? Starbucks! (At least at Barnes & Noble.)

SO…

I hope this post has been helpful to those of you thinking about pursuing an MFA in writing, whatever your genre. I also hope some of you have had your curiosity piqued! Remember: you absolutely don’t need to go to school for writing to be a writer.

…But it’s so much fun! :)

Thanks so much for this guest post, Shayda. You have me seriously thinking about it. :-)

Just want to remind you all that I'm looking for more guest posters for this slot. So if you want to plug your blog, book, can write about writing, books or anything in the literary world (preferably not including reviews), please feel free to contact me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com.



Anyone else furthering their education in writing? Anyone else thinking about it?

Have a great weekend everyone!