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If you haven’t already read the February 2011 issue of The Writer Magazine, I highly recommending grabbing a copy of it and absorbing it from front to back. Not only does the reader learn about the latest contest winner and get to read a super-interesting new story, but there are also several lessons in writing that will hold their footing anywhere.

A profile that will grab your attention and hold it for as long as you have memory is one written by Bob Blaisdell. He writes about a little recognized writer by the name of Jorge Luis Borges.

This man who had almost no vision is described as “a thoroughly literary being” and from the examples given of his talent, I’d have to agree. He did things with words and concepts that I’ve never seen before. And now that I’ve seen those examples, I’ll never look at my writing the same way again. His one piece of advice for writers was “Let your imagination out to play.”

Though he’s gone now his writings and his examples will live on to inspire and instruct those who’ve come after. Be sure to study Borges’s technique as revealed in Blaisdell’s profile of this little-known author.

Mark Wagstaff’s prize-winning story is showcased along with a great little biography of the writer. The magazine also chose to annotate with the contest judge’s evaluation and reasons for choosing this story as the winner. This read shows much of what a current editor might be looking for in submissions in the way of style, tautness of structure, etc. There’s a lot packed into less than 2000 words here.

Literary fiction author, Charles Baxter does an interview with Luke Reynolds. Baxter talks about how writers need to remain true to their stories and the characters who live within them. Reynolds calls Baxter one of the contemporary masters of literary fiction. That’s a title hard to come by today. If you want to see how a modern literary author, with stories made into movies, thinks and works, this should be a can’t-miss interview for you.

Stephen Delaney takes the reader into the mind of the character by showing how to use the character’s thoughts to help tell important parts of the story as well as unveil character backstory, personality traits, physicality, etc. without having to use narrative in the usual way. His point is to show how to create the drama of a piece by using those thoughts. This was a great instruction piece and well worth holding on to, regardless of the genre involved in one’s writing.

There are more interviews, more instruction pieces, and oodles of extras that The Writer is so good at laying at the feet of writers. And if you can’t get your hands on the physical magazine, drop onto the website at: www.WriterMag.com/

Peruse the website and enjoy all the goodies available there. Sign up to get updates, if you wish. They come in handy.

And in case anyone wonders if this is advertising for the mag, I can tell you that they don’t need me to spread the word about their offerings. I just wanted to clue in those who don’t already subscribe or visit the site as to what they’re missing. This month’s issue is an especially good one. At least, for me it was.

Next time I’ll deal with another subject. Have a magnificent week, all. Until you drop in again, a bientot.

Claudsy

Want to get into a creative writing MFA program? Besides polishing up your best work, you need to master in a very particular genre--the graduate school application essay.

Luckily, the Creative Writing MFA Blog has some crucial intelligence on the subject lurking in the comments section. I've dug out a few of my favorites. Here, a person accepted at Columbia University offers some advice:

"I would think they'd rather hear an applicant speaking in a fresh way about a more mainstream book than write something vague and uninteresting about a book that they've never heard of ... 1000 words come easily and well when you have something to say."

And here, Columbia MFA student Lincoln Michel reminds the applicant to pay attention to the kinds of classes offered at his school--another key to crafting a better essay: "Unlike some other programs that only ask you to take a handful of classes, Columbia requires more seminars and craft classes so maybe wants to look closer at how students can contribute to them."

Welcome to Dueling Comments, where I print my favorite comments that I've spotted in publishing blogs. There are some smart people lurking in comment sections, so I scrounge around the Internets to find the crazy, the useful, and the crazy-useful wisdom that they leave behind.

Writing is a scary field--it requires lots of work with little rewards, it's tough to break in, and worst of all, there isn't an ounce of job security.  

Despite all these risks, author Donald Ray Pollock left his solid job at a paper mill and followed his dream to become a writer. Today he tells us how he left his day-job and emerged with a book of rough-and-tumble short-stories about his Ohio hometown called Knockemstiff.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.

Jason Boog:
You took a big risk and left your job to become a writer. You said in one interview, "I was really not satisfied. I wanted to do    something else before I kicked the bucket. I told my wife I was going to try to write and I would give it five years." How did you cope with the frustrations and insecurities you faced along that journey?

Donald Ray Pollock:

Right now, thousands of fledgling writers are staring at their mailboxes. They'll be making one of the hardest decisions of their lives--should I get a creative writing MFA?

There is no easy answer, but I've made a hobby of asking published writers what they think about creative writing programs.

Today our special guest Felicia Sullivan shares her thoughts on the subject. This Columbia University MFA graduate just published her memoir, The Sky Isn't Visible from Here--and she has plenty to say about her MFA experience. 

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing. 

Jason Boog:
Many of my readers are considering creative writing MFAs. What was your experience like? How did it help you? What would you do differently next time? Do you have any advice for writers thinking about these programs?

Felicia Sullivan:
I'm afraid that I won't be able to give your readers unbiased advice on MFA programs as my experience at Columbia was far from an ideal one. Continue reading...

Can you have a family while studying for an MFA in creative writing? More generally, can you have a family, a dayjob, and still have a writing life?

I discussed that with Paul Malmont in the video interview above, trying to figure out how he managed to write The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril without wrecking his marriage.

It's good advice he gave, but these are tough questions that sink more novels than writer's block. Writing requires a discipline and dedication that can easily be disrupted by children and other family concerns. Then you have to factor in all the anti-social habits encouraged by a writing life, staring off into space, drinking, and solitude.

The Creative Writing MFA blog is debating the issue right now, and Mike had this interesting, sober advice for married couples:

"You need to have really good communication about what each of your needs are. You need to be willing to do things like skip a gathering or a cool event to do something really mundane like vacuum and do dishes. It'll isolate you from other people in your program a bit, but it'll keep your spouse from resenting your busy-ness. You also need to be willing to lose sleep."

Can you hold down a dayjob while earning your MFA in creative writing or journalism?

Over at the MFA Blog, readers are debating that tough, tough question. Myself, I paid the rent with a crappy bookstore dayjob while studying for my MA in journalism. It was stressful, but I did it, because I wanted to stay in New York City. 

Writer and foodie C(h)ristine actually survived the working and MFA lifestyle, and had this to say: "I worked parttime throughout my MFA. I was able to swing it, though I know I cheated myself out of the whole experience (which to me is the dream of a huge block of time devoted to writing), but at the same time, I got a chance to stay financially solvent and keep my career on track (after all, we all return to the working world after the MFA)."

I think aspiring writers should shoot for the moon when they apply--try to get a scholarship or teaching work--and have this huge chunk of time where you can live as a writer. It doesn't last long.

If you can't get the scholarships, don't rule out the MFA. Even while working a dayjob and studying, you can still become a stronger, more professional writer. If that doesn't work, creative writing guru, Erika Dreifus, wrote a Poets & Writers article about Low Residency MFA programs--university writing programs for working adults.

If you feel stuck in your dayjob and writing, I've got an extreme solution for you: Peace Corps. 

I'll never forget writing this story, How To Survive a Chicken Bus Crash. I was sitting out in Guatemala in the Peace Corps, lonely, binge-reading, and writing-blocked. Suddenly, while riding a bus home to my village, this wild story popped into my head--changing my writing style forever.

Now, you can sign up for a creative writing MFA program that will actually send you out to Peace Corps. It was founded by two Peace Corps novelists, John Coyne and Richard Wiley, and you can find it at the Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Besides all the self-less reasons for joining Peace Corps, this could be your ticket to the freedom, inspiration, and writing time that you need. Check it out: 

"[It is a] four-year Peace Corps Master’s International Program that allows students to complete course-work in two years and write their theses during a two-year Peace Corps assignment. For more information, check out this link."

Did your dayjob hurt your writing?

I've asked lots of writers that question, most recently in this video interview with National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie and NBA finalist Joshua Ferris.

Sometimes, you just need to leave that dayjob. Jeffrey Yamaguchi has an interview with writer Lilit Marcus about her work on Save the Assistants--a web project that saved her writing career. Check it out:

"In the year since Save the Assistants launched, I've been able to actually make my living as a writer. But no matter what happens, I can never forget what it was like to have a boring, soulless, depressing job. I will never be able to totally let go of the feeling of emptiness I had when I worked there."

Elsewhere in the virtual literary world, Tao Lin takes his signature brand of writer porn to the pages of The Stranger, writing about "the levels of greatness a fiction writer can achieve in america."  

Finally, the madcap political reporter, Matt Taibbi, has a few choice words for fledgling writers. Read it and weep:

"What journalism really needs is more people who are reporting who actually know something. Instead of having a bunch of liberal arts grads who’ve read Siddhartha 50 times writing about health care, it would be really nice if some of the people who are writing about health care were doctors." (Thanks, Romenesko)

Most aspiring writers reading this site don't have any time to go back to school. Unless you have a trust fund, you can't start your career over as a graduate writing student. 

Until I met author and creative writing guru, Erika Dreifus, I thought adult writers were out of luck. Last year Dreifus wrote a Poets & Writers article about Low Residency MFA programs--university writing programs for working adults. These workshops may be the best hope for jump-starting your writing career.

Check it out: "The popularity of these programs, which allow writers to earn a degree without having to spend much time living on a particular campus, was easy to understand. Writers like me who had, in many cases, slipped out of our early twenties and had established personal and professional commitments, could continue our education without disrupting (too much) the patterns of our lives."

Today Dreifus updated her extensive Low-Residency MFA and MA programs list, so why not think about it? If you live in New York and are looking for an even more focused experience, the folks at the Sackett Street Writers Workshop have built a bustling writing community/writing school out of their apartment.

I love the Internet as much as the next guy, but once in a while in a writer's life, you gotta unplug and hang out with real-life writers.

Over at The Millions blog, Edan Lepucki is writing about their do-it-yourself writing classes. I love it, and I'd love to support other writers taking the same do-it-yourself workshop approach.

"I've been teaching fiction writing out of my apartment for over a year now. Seven people show up to my place once a week to eat some gourmet cheese, drink some wine (or sparkling water), and talk about fiction writing."

Do you have problems (like me) sticking with one genre of writing? The MFA Blog has some answers for the multi-genre writer in your life. Places like University of British Columbia.

Finally, Publishing 2.0 ponders the idea that all citizen-created and user-generated content is floating around in an enthusiastic vacuum. This essay asks if we are building myths around this new kind of production.

Dig it:

The best writing advice is so simple that I have to say it over and over again. It's so simple that I have to repeat it when other people say it. It's so simple that I have to beat it into my skull every busy busy week like the week I'm stuck in right now.

Here it is, again. We are writers. Therefore, we must be sitting at our writing desks writing absolutely every chance we get.

Gordon Hurd will set you straight with this inspiring post about this very subject. He mentions a book that we must all track down soon. Dig it, dig it:

"no matter how much you want to stop writing after that first good sentence or page or scene, keep going. Stay in the room even though your coffee is cold. Stay in the room even though the phone is ringing. Stay in the room to write your first draft."

He's paraphrasing the writing handbook, Ron Carlson Writes a Story. The book was written by author and creative writing teacher Ron Carlson. It's easy enough to say "Stay at your writing table," but much harder to do.

How do you convince yourself to keep writing after a long long day?

Now I like the sci-fi madness of Philip K. Dick as much as the next obsessive fan, but this is just amazing.

A film company has just bought three-year, first-look rights to the entire collection of Dick stories and novels that have yet to be turned into movies. It is a rare writer who can inspire this kind of commitment from fans. Just listen to this:

"Based on material from Dick's vast body of work, co-productions may include film adaptations, as well as television and other media projects. Details of the production slate are forthcoming. Dick's works include more than 120 short stories and 45 novels."

SF Signal readers are talking about why Dick's stories lend themselves so well to other media, as well as proposing new films. 

If you want something a bit more down to earth, PeteLit has nice, well-written list describing his favorite lit-bloggers. Find some new reading material. 

Over at the MFA Blog, Daryll Lynne Evans has some grim professional advice for writers thinking about MFA's. The readership is already chiming in over the great career debate:

"I've got a fresh, if alarming, take on what's out there. First you need to understand that you're not getting the MFA to learn a job skill or walk into a paying career. No "precise job opportunities" are attached to the MFA." 

Where should writers live?

The question is so so so important. I nearly starved to death during my first year in New York, living on a book clerk's salary and paying nasty Manhattan rent. It was a terrible financial and writing decision--I'd go to Brooklyn or any other city in the whole world before I'd do that again.

Today the MFA Blog is exploring that question with a little more detail, helping writers find "a community with a strong literary scene, in terms of events, workshops, etc, where the cost of living is reasonable, aka, not NYC." Add your city to the mix! 

Sometimes it feels like you will never finish your book, but you need to remember you are not alone. Jeff VanderMeer has a new feature called Conversations with the Bookless, talking to published writers struggling to finish their first novels. Rachel Swirsky opens this fine new feature.

Got a head? Chop it off and write about it. Hot Metal Bridge is taking final submissions for the headless issue. Details here:

"Please send us your poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction on the theme of headless ... Whatever your interpretation, be sure to stun us. We’ll know it’s good when we feel, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, as if the tops of our heads were taken off."

Over the summer, I decided that science fiction writers are the first-responders of the web-based literary world.

Long before any other genre discussed the Internet, computer culture, or any of the reality-changing digital shifts in our lives, science fiction authors were already exploring these ideas in novels.

However, these brave writers rarely have the support they need in creative writing programs. The Creative Writing MFA Blog has been discussing this problem lately, and Anna Mendoza had this advice: "Sadly, magical realism, science fiction, horror, and fantasy are genres that have been taken over by hacks and pulp writers to such an extent that colleges and universities are generally suspicious of a writer who professes to write such material; in fact they may expect the work to be bad before they even look at it."

The readers rallied with some excellent suggestions, so check out the comments section for new ideas about programs you can explore. I was especially interested in the MFA "genre fiction" concentration at USC. This semester, Shelly Lowenkopf is teaching the genre course--this editor and novelist has a great blog as well.

Should you go back to school for writing? 

Thousands of writers are asking themselves that while reading the The Atlantic Monthly's annual rankings of creative writing MFA programs. Before you go apply to all ten schools, you should really think long and hard about this expensive, life-changing experience.

You can start by reading these blogged discussions about MFA programs: at Poets & Writers at The Suburban Ecstasies and even The Atlantic Online.

After that you finish that reading list, you can virtually explore The Complete Blogged MFA Experience®, my trademarked link list that allows you to see into the thoughts of MFA participants.

Tom Kealey rules the "Pre-Workshop Period."

The Clarion Workshop bloggers dominate the "Workshopping Period."

Gordon Hurd commands the "Post-Workshop Period."

"So a serious artist should seek out those MFA programs that won’t land him in debt. Are there a bunch of people reading this and saying, ‘Screw you, D’Souza, you arrogant debt-free prick?’ Maybe ... I’m grateful to those programs for giving out the money they do to young writers."

That's novelist Tony D'Souza railing on the creative writing MFA program biz during his Publishing Spot interview about his book Whiteman. Like me, he graduated from a master's in writing program--but we both managed to land scholarships that made the experience easier.

There's a new MFA blogger in business, the mysterious Llama who writes about her fears over what to do when she graduates. Just like D'Souza, she's obsessed with scholarships. Her fears have nothing to do with aesthetics or literary theory, but they are very real problems for the working writer.

Your first goal while applying for MFA's should be securing funding. Writers (of all stripes) have it hard enough without thousands of dollars of crippling debt. Luckily, our new friend the Llama is already looking for solutions.

Check out her full list:

"Residencies and fellowships and other sweet deals ... Richard Hugo House--ambiguous; Yaddo January 1 or August 1; Axton Postdoctoral Fellowship not currently accepting applications?; Also a useful list here..."

Stalk your favorite writers! 

So says former MFA student and novelist Katherine Taylor commenting on a New York magazine essay about MFA programs in New York. She gives some hilarious, honest advice about going back to school for writing: "Unless you have a fellowship or your parents foot the bill, an MFA is self-destructive. We want the Iowa/Irvine/Columbia label, but a place like UNLV makes a lot more sense. Or else just stalk Denis Johnson at his listed number in Idaho. Move there, work at the iHop, and beg him to mentor you. Free!"

Novelist Tao Lin makes a modest proposal, mocking both the free labor internship economy that supports the magazine industry and the arbitrary blockbuster book syndrome that kills lesser-known writers at the bookstores. Except he does so in a single sentence, instead of my rambling summary here: "i am accepting applications to be one of my interns; your job will be to buy eeeee eee eeee from st. marks bookshop with your own money until it becomes their #1 bestseller."

Finally, Travelgoat is back online, featuring an audio storytelling archive about New York City, including a few of my favorite stories about Manhattan. If you live in or near the city, you should record your favorite New York stories and plug them into the archive--help some tourist follow your memories instead of a tour guide.

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

Question: What's the most straightforward name for a writing website, ever?  

Answer: YouDon'tNeedNoMFA.com. I love their focus on community, and they have an essay by Jim Harrison that is well worth your time if you are considering enrolling in a MFA writing program. Check it out: "'The Bourgeois Poet' should be taught to the thousands taking M.F.A.’s in creative writing who wish to become poet-professors. As I said I tried it myself but found the work too hard. There’s a subdued but relentless hurly-burly in academia that swallows up discretionary time. It’s like living with a slight backache, not fatal but enervating." (Thanks Gordon Hurd.)

Susan Henderson is going on vacation, and she's taking stock of her web stats. People find your website for the craziest reasons. She leaves the comments section open, so look for hundreds of lonesome quotes from Litpark fans. 

Don't forget that next week, novelist Lance Olsen will stop by to discuss his new book, Anxious Pleasures. I just want to reiterate how much I agree with about finding your writing community (with or without an MFA!): "it's a tiny handful of voices I've learned to trust that can and do continually challenge my writing in fruitful ways," he told me, describing his favorite readers.

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

You'll uncover 500 hits if you google the phrase, "Don't go to journalism school."

It's pretty common advice--the publishing, print, and journalism businesses are all being rocked by momentous changes. Today, I invited one of my favorite journalism professors to explain why you might want to go to journalism school.

Robert Boynton is one of my old professors from New York University. He's written for countless magazines, from The New Yorker to Rolling Stone. Last year, Boynton published book called The New New Journalism, where veteran writers shared tips for the future. 

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.

Jason Boog: 
You urge your students to not surrender to the "hysteria" of the topsy-turvy world of new media. How do you reassure the young grad student scared about all the media downsizing, industry earthquakes and dwindling paychecks in this business? How do you cope with the frustrations of the industry? 

Rob Boynton:
It isn't easy to resist being swayed by a culture's "conventional wisdom," and even those who resist it aren't guaranteed a good career. Continue reading...

Should you go back to school? Will having a graduate degree help you suceed in the world of journalism or creative writing?

I studied journalism at the graduate program at New York University. The experience undoubtedly changed my life. You can be the judge of how it affected my writing.

Next week, one of my favorite professors from New York University will answer all your questions about graduate school. Tune in for an exclusive interview with Robert Boynton, author of The New New Journalism--learning the professor's point-of-view about the new media shake-up that makes writers so nervous.

Decide for yourself if you need a MFA. Graduate programs are expensive, and they should be weighed carefully before you join. Now, you can explore The Complete Blogged MFA Experience® through my trademarked historical nomenclature...

Tom Kealey rules the "Pre-Workshop Period."

The Clarion Workshop bloggers dominate the "Workshopping Period."

Gordon Hurd commands the "Post-Workshop Period."

"My father cleared his throat. He was quiet for a moment, and I suspected that he might be gearing himself for some confession, a bit of self-reflection about how the war had changed his life. But he gave me a devious look--half love, half malice--and flicked my notebook with his finger. He said, 'I gave that war to you.'"

That's a few lines from Danielle Trussoni's memoir, Falling Through the Earth, a memoir exploring how the Vietnam War affected her father and her family. Writing like this is a difficult project--Trussoni actually wrote and scrapped an entire book before creating this memoir. 

She survived the process, in part, thanks to her friends at Memoirists Collective--a group of non-fiction writers who supported each other through the whole writing process, from editing room to the readings.

Today, Trussoni also talks about the work and friends she made at The Iowa University Writers' Workshop in my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing. 

Jason Boog:
You attended one of the finest MFA programs in the United States. How did the MFA experience help you shape this book and your style? Are there any downsides to MFA programs? What do you recommend for fledgling writers considering applying for MFA's right now?

Danielle Trussoni:

I would absolutely recommend going to a MFA program. 

Do you feel like stripping naked when you talk about a work-in-progress? 

Some writers hate discussing unfinished projects and others love to show you everything. Over at Shaken & Stirred, the writer Gwenda Bond has been blogging her creative writing MFA experience, a new genre of web writing her readers call "writing porn." 

I love picking up new tricks from other writers, and Bond carries her readers along for every stage of the editing. When she makes a writing discovery about changing tenses or plotting her new novel, we get a first hand peep at the results.

Check it out... 

"[Changing tense] changes every line. It changes what a protagonist sees (and it makes transitions a tiny bit easier in my opinion) ... I should also add here that the tense thing wasn't even mentioned by my workshop, but was spurred by being able to come back to the story with fresh eyes."