Unicorns of Rural Indiana (Pt. 1)
MFA's and Writing Communities
From the Forge…
I subscribe to Writer’s Digest and Poets & Writers because I need the tips. The print copies arrive, I read them, underline the helpful bits, tear out the pages I may reference in the future, then pitch ‘em. I know the digital copies exist online and I have access to the articles, but after staring at screens all day for work and leisure, I miss print as a medium for info consumption. Both contain advice on craft, author features (traditional and self-published), agent info, and resources, but Poets comes with a good quarter of the magazine dedicated to publications accepting submissions. What really gets me are the ads for all the MFA programs.
In my area of rural Indiana, though we have nearby state colleges and a private liberal arts college, they barely have a creative writing undergrad program between them. The nearest MFA is at a University two and half hours away—in a different state. I have a full-time job. The days of attending class in the traditional sense are over. Thanks to Poets & Writers though, I discovered these things called “low-residency programs” which are basically structured like online programs used to be where you do all your work during the week, then show up to campus for a weekend or a full Saturday or a stretch of days in the Summer.
I imagine myself attending one of these each time the magazine arrives. Building community, learning from published authors, and leaving with a finished work ready for publication (I’m not sure if that’s how it goes, but I have no frame of reference). Then I think about shouldering additional student loan debt and finding other jobs in my area I’d become eligible for with my newly-acquired degree. I think about the vibe of MFA’s as leaning hard into literary fiction, something I barely read and definitely don’t write. Then I close the magazine and walk away, dejected.
THEN I discovered:
Bought the book (obviously). Joined the community. Signed up for the newsletter. I may even pay an annual subscription, I have no idea. Regardless, it was a unique concept and came at the perfect time when I felt like I was flailing as a writer. Since then, I’ve read, watched, and listened to as much content related to writing as I could find. Between that and ACTUALLY writing, it’s the nearest I can get to an MFA program.
Now—on to finding this thing called a writing community.
Best Thing I Wrote This Week…
It was in those quiet moments Dell felt remorse, not for the men laid bloody before him, but for generations of kin who would stand alone in the righteousness of their destruction.
I edited a short story in the last week, one that had been kicking around a folder of “finished” work for the past couple years. It’s told through the eyes of a ten year old boy whose father is a sharecropper in the early 1900s. His mother has died. His siblings are older and off on their own. The boy is left to be raised by a father who grieves, drinks, and fails to restrain the violence within.
I’ve been editing this thing in my mind for all of those couple years. It started out way too long with too many characters. Too many scene changes. Too much backstory. The story took place over the course of a day and was easily 3500 words. It’s now down to 1700 and is to a place where I feel comfortable submitting it for publication.
Stamped & Sent…
Another “humble letter” rolled in this week, which I’m not sure I ever explained the origin of that term. It’s a running joke in our household from when we apply for jobs and receive that letter in the mail (now email) "thanking us, but—”. You know…it’s humbling…kinda makes you question your life and educational choices. Well, I treat short story submissions the same way, as letters from editors follow a similar cadence.
“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work, we are eternally grateful. It was an acceptable piece of writing and under other circumstances, you could’ve been the recipient of $0.06/word. Unfortunately, everyone else in the United States also submitted their short story, so better luck next time.”
Unfortunately, Writer’s Digest: Annual Writing Competition is off the board. But that’s okay…'cause I’m throwing The Last Outlaw of Utopia into the ring any place that publishes crime fiction.
Off the Rails - The Atlantic - (in-progress)
Off the Rails - Sewanee Review: Short Fiction Contest - (in-progress)
Off the Rails - Writer’s Digest: Annual Writing Competition - (Nope.)
