please dear god let me get into grad school please please please
This is something I framed and hung on the inside of my skull. |We've been trained to turn to our phones to inform our followers of our somewhat witty observations. I think the instant validation of our apps is an enemy to producing the kind of writing that takes years to complete. That's why I advise anyone serious about writing books to spend at least a few years keeping it secret. If you're able to continue writing while embracing the assumption that no one will ever read your work, it will reward you in ways you never imagined This is what keeps me writing (most every) morning. Becoming a writer is the goal. What I'm writing is the means to that end. On the other, less highfalutin' side, if Cory Doctorow can stand living with some of his works being public, for whatever that's worth to him - maybe "Good enough to read on the bus" is a reasonable standard in this modern age of self publishing.It's important to woodshed.
Occasionally my students asked me about how I got published after I got my MFA, and the answer usually disappointed them. After I received my degree in 1999, I spent seven years writing work that no one has ever read—two novels and a book's worth of stories totaling about 1,500 final draft pages. These unread pages are my most important work because they're where I applied what I'd learned from my workshops and the books I read, one sentence at a time. Those seven years spent in obscurity, with no attempt to share my work with anyone, were my training, and they are what allowed me to eventually write books that got published.
I'm making a public commitment to myself to never write about writing. I've seen less toxic responses on reddit GamerGate threads.
All of this applies for pretty much every arts faculty, especially andWriters are born with talent.
If you complain about not having time to write, please do us both a favor and drop out.
It's important to woodshed.
Passion is a big part of it but a passion that ignores being shut down constantly but not giving up isn't a thing that develops late in life for many. What kind of a person decides to devote all their free time to something like art when they have adult responsibilities? This kind actually. He's one of my favorite writers. He also flat out says he had no talent when he started and I believe him due to the unusual route he took to being an acclaimed but obscure author. I agree with him and the author of the article even though it's contradictory. No one is born anything but to even seriously try to be anything as improbably difficult as a working artist, author or musician, you usually have to get the naive idea that you can succeed or the entrenched love of something like that very early. Arts in academia are bizarre. Don't go to art school, don't major in creative writing. Go live and gather material along the way that will actually give you something to say. Move to a city and survive even if you don't know anyone. Volunteer at a mental hospital. Don't ramble on the internet like this as it's very counterproductive.
>Don't ramble on the internet like this as it's very counterproductive. And yet, here we are....
I think that higher education is useful, but not in the method that universities in North America currently operate. the "well rounded" education does little but fuck you over in the arts, in my opinion. Those who are inclined to have a broad education will seek it out anyways, and foisting it upon everyone else is a dumb idea. Studying with someone, in music at least, is a crucial part of woodshedding. they keep you on track, and they keep you honest. They call you on your shit, and make you better.Arts in academia are bizarre. Don't go to art school, don't major in creative writing. Go live and gather material along the way that will actually give you something to say. Move to a city and survive even if you don't know anyone. Volunteer at a mental hospital.
In a public university setting it's almost useless. Most people are there to stamp their adulthood card because they're expected to go to university. The schools offer arts programs to seem well rounded but really to get as much money from tuition as possible. Talk to a program director about funding if you want to say "Well, it costs the school money to run those programs." There's not really a system in place that can develop young artists. Visual art apprenticeships are still a (rare) thing. Writers, musicians, actors, you're all shit out of luck in regards to mentorship that could help you earn money and develop a career. I guess you could go back to the hyper selective academy system from 150 years ago or so, but a lot of talented people who would be overlooked in that system for actually being able to expand a medium. If what's going on now does one thing well it weeds out the people who aren't committed if you want to look at it that way.
Back when I was seriously considering studying art (in the early 2000s) there were a lot of attempts to do just that. I haven't kept up, but at least a few are still around. I have no idea whether they've been successful, but it has at least been tried.I guess you could go back to the hyper selective academy system from 150 years ago or so, but a lot of talented people who would be overlooked in that system for actually being able to expand a medium.
Woman who I work with went here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts From what she says it sounds like a traditional education in art with some modernity in there
I think music education in college should be mandatory. I've gotten so much out of choir in college, I definitely produced the highest quality of music in my entire life last semester during chamber choir and the satisfaction is indescribable. I can't imagine how you must feel!