Dan Powell on MA writing courses
Dan Powell has put together a great post on postgraduate writing courses. It includes links to some other excellent articles (which I hadn’t read previously) and a section in the middle that references my post on the subject from late October.
It’s all ace and you should head over and read the full piece, but I wanted to pull out a section from Dan’s final paragraph, which totally nails both the why-you-shoulds and the what-you-gets of attempting an MA writing qualification:
[…] at present my main focus is on becoming a better writer, practising my craft in a challenging yet supportive environment while working toward a real goal (in my case a completed, redrafted and edited novel of, again I hope, publishable quality) by the end of three years.
I like the use of the word ‘real’.
For many people, writing is either a hobby or a pipe dream. But when you invest so much time and money, it becomes very real. It somehow means so much more. It takes a different shape.
