tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147920534572837961.post7084318153813466315..comments2023-10-06T12:12:31.468-04:00Comments on The MFA/MFYou Newsletter: Another Post about TimeAshley Cowgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12362214167891115633noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147920534572837961.post-2567378330881556582009-11-29T10:14:30.266-05:002009-11-29T10:14:30.266-05:00I agree with what you said about not feeling down ...I agree with what you said about not feeling down if we're not always writing. Like you said, we need lots of time to just gather ideas from our everyday lives to write about. One of my professors here at Geneva college tells me not to force it--that if I don't feel I have anything urgent to write about, to just not. Yeah, continue journaling or blogging or reading, but don't try to force good fiction or poetry out if it refuses to show itself.<br /><br />I feel that's pretty good advice, because if we always force ourselves I'm afraid we'd lose the romance, the catharsis, of writing. We started writing because we felt in our hearts that we had something to share, something to say, right? And that if we didn't write it, we wouldn't be satisfied with ourselves. I'm afraid we're turning it into too much of a business, too much a career, and not a lifestyle which I think it should be.<br /><br />Even now in undergrad sometimes I'm tired of writing, because I associate it with school and my major and not with myself and my own needs. Gotta try to break that. I think living the writer's life doesn't entail writing all the time...I think it also entails a great deal of simple observation through living life, reflecting and pondering these things.<br /><br />This is the only thing that perturbs me about joining an MFA...I don't want to lose that sense of everyday reflection and wonder...I don't want to turn my passion into a methodical business. I still feel I need to do an MFA if for no other reason than to gain knowledge of the craft and myself as a writer. I just think we need to try to regain that writerly lifestyle, take it back from being a black-and-white business.PancakePhilosopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13235041201429314674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147920534572837961.post-14833434299304159292009-11-29T09:28:45.186-05:002009-11-29T09:28:45.186-05:00I agree with the notion that things other than the...I agree with the notion that things other than the actual act of writing are still valuable. Sometimes I feel guilty when I don't get in enough writing time, but if I'm reading fiction, that's useful. If I'm reading a book or magazine about writing, that's useful. Ultimately, of course, you have to write to be a writer, and although practicing is an essential element toward improvement, I don't think writing by itself is really enough. We have to think and evaluate and ponder why some things work and why others don't. Even though we're out of school, we need to keep up with the kind of studying that we did in classes (although I think there wasn't really enough of that kind of study in the classes either). <br /><br />The one thing I find an annoying drain on my time is submitting. I don't feel like I learn anything about writing from that process, and it's a time-consuming hassle. If I spend an hour reading somebody else's story instead of working on my own story, I still feel like I'm spending my time being a writer, but if I spend an hour filling out online submission forms or printing off copies of a story and stuffing envelopes and tweaking a cover letter, that just feels like an annoyance.Justushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12701126200573700215noreply@blogger.com