Returning to Grad School at SNHU with Intro to the MFA (MFA-505)

Returning to grad school wasn't on my bingo card this year. (But, then again, a lot of things weren't.) However, my decision to apply for Southern New Hampshire University's Master of Fine Arts program, and my acceptance into said program, was something I had on my bucket list of to-eventually-dos since I graduated with my Bachelor's earlier this year. This is why, when I was accepted into the MFA program, I was beyond ecstatic and ready to dive back in. 

Like all things, I started at the beginning: with MFA-505, or, Intro to the MFA Program. 

Led by Senior Associate Dean Derrick Craigie, the class began as most of my others did: with an introductory discussion, as well as what is described as a "virtual mentorship," in which we were tasked to choose a text to help guide us through the class. I chose Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott, which I'll dive into here shortly.

The class was primarily composed of three major moving parts: a series of discussion posts surrounding what we believed our place in the writing community happened to be, a number of journals that accompanied them, and a large, interview-style project that was the culmination of our work in MFA-505. 

There was also a segment wherein we were tasked to rewrite the opening of Herman Meville's Moby Dick, and a mock workshop we took part in, during which we "critiqued" a previously written story by a writer outside the class through the Annotate program (which I unfortunately did wrong due to lack of proper instructions, which is in part a failure on present university guidelines as well as my own lack of comprehension.) I have attached a (rather unfortunately lengthy) video of the rewrite exercise, as well as my thoughts on it, below. 

You can read the final version that I refined for the discussion post, wherein we completed this exercise, on the blog here. 

Throughout the duration of Intro to the MFA, I felt as though I belonged, and that I was in a space of like-minded writers who were working toward their various goals and aspirations. I received great feedback from Senior Associate Dean Craigie, had excellent interactions with my peers, and felt the final project (the interview-style paper) did its job in helping establish a baseline toward what we will be eventually doing in the later parts of the class. 

In regard to Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, I felt that much of the text was designed with beginning writers in mind. While I do not feel that is a failing on Lamott's part, and is based more on the fact that I have been writing for some time, I would have chosen a different text had I known it was written to cater to those who were new(er) in the writing process. Had I the choice to go back and choose a different text, I would have probably picked King's On Writing, which likely would have served me better given the point I am at in the current state of my career.

Beyond the issues I had with Annotate, I felt this class was the perfect introduction to the MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University. Senior Associate Dean Craigie was an excellent instructor, and I am extremely pleased with how the course was assembled and scaffolded throughout.

Final grade: A (1000/1000)

Rewriting Moby Dick: An Exercise in Voice

Voice is a distinguishing part of a writer's toolkit. It not only allows someone to write in a manner that is distinctly their own, but to take part in the overall landscape that makes up the genre (or literary) space.

Though this post comes after I've completed Intro to the MFA Program on August 17th, I did want to highlight an assignment we were tasked to do as a discussion, which introduced and further detailed the important of voice.

In this discussion, we were assigned to rewrite the opening of Herman Meville's Moby Dick, the classic of the man hunting the great white whale, which famously begins with "Call me Ishmael." This assignment was meant to test our individual voice, in a style that was our own within a genre of our choosing. Given I write young adult fiction almost exclusively now, I decided to rewrite the opening of Moby Dick in my voice.

The discusssion took place in week 4 of Intro to the MFA, and the assignment was meant to be roughly 250 words. This is what I came up with for the reimagined opening of Moby Dick in my own voice:

Most men would cherish the ocean. I would rather be free of it.

Of course, this is no longer possible, given my circumstance, the things that have happened to me. I am but a girl whose father was lost to sea, and whose place I have taken aboard the vessel.

We were meant to chase the whale. Now, however, I wonder if we will ever find him.

The cruel wind tosses the waves and the boat in earnest. Bobbing up, then down in feverish motions, it causes the men aboard to scramble to hold themselves steady. Many are practiced sailors, some more green than others. I, however, have grown up on these waters–and have witnessed the water’s cruel beauty, just as I have its wicked tenacity. As a result, it is not surprising to see some men fall.

A wicked wave rushes forward, striking the boat with enough force to cause the frame to shudder, its people to shake. I think of my father’s final moments upon a boat like this, of his terrible desperation to make our lives better for the two of us. I remember him slipping, then falling, only to be lost to the terrible sea.

I think of his final words as he’d drowned along these barbarous coasts. The one name he’d called–not God’s, but mine.

Ishmae.

The feedback I received highlighted the craft elements that made it distinctly YA, in which I changed Ishmael from a man to a young girl, and reinterpreted the opening in a voice that was disctintly first-person present-tense. 

If you're interested in seeing a (unfortunately lengthy) video about my process with this assignment, you can click or tap on the YouTube thumbnail below to see what I did during the writing of the assignment, and my thoughts while reviewing it.