Inkwell Interview on Writing Programs
Nadya Williams: As we talk about training Christian writers, I’d like to first ask a particularly tricky question. Recently, a college professor of creative writing told me that the greatest competition out there right now is not between MFA programs. Instead, the question for aspiring writers is whether they need an MFA at all, rather than simply getting a “normal” day job and writing in the margins. What would you tell someone who is weighing these options?
Mischa Willett: One time, I was walking around with a friend in college, and we saw one of those inspiring coffee mugs that said “Everyone is an artist!” She found it ridiculous. It doesn’t make any more sense to say everyone is an artist than it does to say everyone is a dentist. Sure, we all might have a seed of dentistry in us, but that’s not the same thing as being a dentist. Her point was that making art is something you learn to do, preferably from a master and preferably after a long apprenticeship.
One thing I’ve been noticing recently, as more publications offer new writers exposure, is that I can sort of tell when a writer doesn’t have an MFA. The poems might be really smart and good in spots, but they also make rookie mistakes. It’s like an error in coding, a glitch.
I don’t know why people have decided this is the one area of human endeavor where training isn’t required. Everyone knows that to be a ballet dancer, you train at a good ballet school. To be a good chef, you go to a top culinary school. The police have their own academy. People hire personal trainers when they want abs. On and on it goes, but with writing, people often assume they’ll just wing it. That’s strange to me.
Of course they should start. Of course they should try. But when they want to get serious, they should get serious. The beautiful thing about low-residency programs like ours is that people can keep their day jobs and still develop this central part of themselves. I think programs like these are the future.
