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[wombat]

You know what else is worse than any of those things? Writers who write books where the main character is a writer. If you don't know enough about anything else to have your main character have another job than that, go out and get a fuck*ng life and write a book once you actually have something to write about.

[Victoria Waterfield]

You know what else is worse than any of those things? Writers who write books where the main character is a writer. If you don't know enough about anything else to have your main character have another job than that, go out and get a fuck*ng life and write a book once you actually have something to write about.

Surely by now someone's written a story about a writer in an MFA program who can't find success because they only write stories about writers in MFA programs?


EDIT: Hell, I'd do it myself, but I'm not in an MFA program.

[KeithHernandez]

Vonnegut tho

[pmcd9]

I blame Hunter S. Thompson. He ruined a whole generation of writers.

[wombat]

Surely by now someone's written a story about a writer in an MFA program who can't find success because they only write stories about writers in MFA programs?


EDIT: Hell, I'd do it myself, but I'm not in an MFA program.

This reminds me of the idea I had the other day to give up trying to get a book contract for a year in order to get a contract to write a book about giving up trying to get a book contract for a year. It's the logical extention of that trend in nonfiction and someone's got to do it to put an end to the thing.

[wombat]

I don't actually know who this guy is, but this tweet belongs here.

Eric Nelson ‏@literaryeric
I'm working on a dystopian YA novel where everyone in the world is working on dystopian YA novels.

[theinevitable]

When I took a fiction writing class everyone hated my story about being in a band on the road and told me to "write what I know." So I wrote a story about a man-child who obsesses about his ex girlfriend and drinks too much and builds a nest-maze in his apartment. They liked that one.

It was frustrating because all of their critiques of the Band story were about not understanding how bands or touring work, and I was not allowed to respond to their critiques, so they just talked for a fuck*ng hour about their stupid ideas about how bands work. Not at all about the story itself, which was bad and pointless.

Writing MFA programs should basically just be abolished. They are a weird trap for wannabe-writers, and by being that they became necessary to get your work taken seriously, and now everyone writes in the MFA Style. Fuck that noise.

[wombat]

I was inspired by that post to start typing a rant about how many jobs there are where you didn't used to get a degree, you started at the bottom and learned by actually doing and worked your way up and how now the education-industrial complex has gotten their claws into everything, but I got depressed and decided nobody needs to hear that.

[wombat]

OK but also this: the main point of writing classes is to give writers another way to make money by teaching writing classes.

I have a couple of times tried to get a gig teaching writing, but so far have failed, and am always relieved.

[wombat]

Back on topic: this totally belongs here:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/elmore-leonard-modern-prose-master-noted-for-his-t,33559/

[miles]

Back on topic: this totally belongs here:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/elmore-leonard-modern-prose-master-noted-for-his-t,33559/

That's amazing. Thank god for the Onion.