Month: March 2015

MFA Notes

MFA Notes: The Inspiration and Imperative of Place

Michael Anthony

the inspiration and imperative of place in creative writingQuick notes: the inspiration and imperative of place in creative writing

Recently, I graduated from Lesley University with an MFA in creative writing, and I decided that I wanted to share what I learned in a series of blog posts.

I decided to share for two reasons:

1) My notes, although not too detailed, could possibly  help other writers.

2) Rewriting my notes forces me to re-read and re-think everything I learned, so it’s a win-win.

But before we dive in, please keep two things in mind:

1) These notes are neither complete nor perfect. The classes at Lesley were not typical lecture/note classes; the classes were filled with writing and thinking exercises and often this left no time for notes (in a good way). However, even with that, these sparse notes, I do believe, could still offer value.

2) I may, from time to time, include actual writing prompts from the classes, please bare with me, they’re first drafts and were done in the moment.

I hope you enjoy this series of notes and if you have any questions about the notes, Lesley University, or MFA’s, please feel free to contact me.

The Inspiration and Imperative of Place

Nature abhors a vacuum.

Writing also abhors a vacuum.

Combine place and people. Allow one to stand in for the other. They can highlight one another.

Landscape can invoke memoires and emotions.

Place matters when setting a scene. Two people in a restaurant are different than two people in the woods.

In Class Writing: Place: Raining:

“It pours down, each droplet seeping into the ground, into my uniform, into me. It begins to pool. The ground is full, my boots are filled, neither of us have anywhere else to go. I must stay put, guard duty knows no weather. The rain must rain, it knows nothing else.”

“A flare goes into the sky, highlighting a thousand drops in mid-air, I look around, moving between the drops, between the trees, my enemies approach. It is merely a training exercise, but we are both wet, tired and angry. We need enemies. We both raise our rifles, water flows into our forward sights. We fire. Neither hits.”

*Use all your senses, if you can.*

Click here to see more MFA Notes…

Recommended book for this section: Description & Setting, by Ron Rozelle.

Picture: Flickr/madame.furie

MFA Notes, Uncategorized

MFA Notes – Journalistic Imperative

Michael Anthony

journalistic imperativeMFA Notes from Lesley University

What does it take to be a journalist?

Recently, I graduated from Lesley University with an MFA in creative writing, and I decided that I wanted to share what I learned in a series of blog posts.

I decided to share for two reasons:

1) My notes, although not too detailed, could possibly  help other writers.

2) Rewriting my notes forces me to re-read and re-think everything I learned, so it’s a win-win.

But before we dive in, please keep two things in mind:

1) These notes are neither complete nor perfect. The classes at Lesley were not typical lecture/note classes; the classes were filled with writing and thinking exercises and often this left no time for notes (in a good way). However, even with that, these sparse notes, I do believe, could still offer value.

2) I may, from time to time, include actual writing prompts from the classes, please bare with me, they’re first drafts and were done in the moment.

I hope you enjoy this series of notes and if you have any questions about the notes, Lesley University, or MFA’s, please feel free to contact me.

Journalistic Imperative

Always collect more data and research than you need. The goal should be to use the top 15%. The other 85% isn’t wasted; you need it all to be able to find that top 15%.

Types of research: Travel, eating, interviews, online, archival data, retrace steps/restage, public records, journals, immersion, photos, letters, etc.

Involuntary memory: a smell, sight, touch or sound, that reminds us of something or someone.

Eventually you’ll come across information and research that contradicts one another. This can be good, because where there’s contradiction there’s a story. (Also, if you come across two things that contradict each other, you don’t have to chose one or the other, you can report both–or dive into the story of the contradiction.) If one side of the contradiction feels better than the other, go with your gut.

*Research from all angles and perspectives*

*What’s the theme?*

Different narration perspectives: The me as a child, the me now. My friend, my brother, father, etc. The “we” and “us.” Don’t use these different voices as a gimmick, though.

How do you know when you’re done researching? Or when you’re done with your project?

  • Deadlines.
  • When the dots are all finally connected.
  • When things start repeating themselves; if five people say “blue,” and then so does number six, then maybe you can be like, “Okay, it’s blue. I can move on to something else.

Click here to see more MFA Notes…

Recommended book for this section: The Situation and the Story, by Vivian Gornick.

Uncategorized

New Blog Design…

Michael Anthony

The new blog design is almost done!  We should have it fully functional in another week, but for now you should be able to see all the great changes.

Bringing the block back online is exciting.  I’m going to be changing things up a little bit.  I’ll still be blogging about writing, ptsd, and veteran issues, but I’ll be adding some other stuff as well.

Inspired by Austin Kleon, and his “Black OUT poetry,” I ordered a subscription to The Army Times.  I’ll be adding a few black out poems every week with articles from the paper.

Also, I’ll be adding book notes/reviews from some of the books I read.  I’ve been reading about two books a month every since I started grad school and I’ve always kept notes and reviews for my personal library, but I thought it would be beneficial to share the notes and reviews.

More soon!