What happens in an MFA Program: An Overview of Curriculum

Wall of books with a door in the middle

I get so many questions about what happens in an MFA program, and before I try to explain more, I want to say that MFA programs vary widely. Some are two-year programs, some three, and there’s even at least one MFA that only takes one year (hello, Boston University!). I’ve attended one MFA program, I direct another, and as a director, I meet with other directors, including as part of AWP’s Mid-Atlantic Council at the national conference. Obviously, there are a lot of programs out there, and I can’t speak to all of them (or even most!).

But here is what I can tentatively state happens in every MFA program: workshop. The MFA is a studio degree, meaning it is a degree in which you practice your art and present it for critique and development, and workshop is how we do that in creative writing. I’ve written about the traditional model of workshop here, but please be aware that other models are out there.

Other than workshop, courses can vary. Here’s what you’re likely to see in an MFA curriculum:

1. Workshop, as I’ve noted. Even though I’ve already mentioned it, I’m including it here, as it’s the primary coursework you’ll undertake. Most 3-year programs include 2 years (or 4 semesters) of workshop. Many MFA programs will allow you to vary the genre of workshop (say, 2 fiction, one creative nonfiction, and one poetry), but there are a few programs out there who require you to stick to the genre in which you applied and were accepted.

2. Literature coursework. Many MFA students are excited about this requirement, thinking about reading books all day long, but please be aware that the expectations and objectives of a literature course are different than you might imagine. Literature coursework in graduate school is a scholarly endeavor, not a creative one, and you’ll encounter theoretical lenses and you’ll learn to analyze literature in a rigorous way. You won’t be breaking down a novel for structure, for example, but you might be looking at “The Yellow Wallpaper” through a feminist theory lens (though this is an obvious example). Usually, you take between 2-4 semesters of literature.

3. A Reading Like a Writer course. Many of these courses are based on Francine Prose’s READING LIKE A WRITER book, and I have to say that, for me, this is one of the single most valuable courses you take. A good Reading Like a Writer course prepares you to be on your own one day (in the writing wilderness, I call it) and it teaches you how to teach yourself. Reading like a writer works in at least two directions, as well, both Why do I love ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE so much? and How do I teach myself to write a good plot twist?. You want to learn how to break down a text into what’s working or not working for you, and then how to incorporate those lessons into your own work. But you also want to be able to recognize what aspect of technique you need to learn next, and a good reading like a writer course will help you navigate this wilderness when you’re out of the program. You usually take one semester of this course.

4. An Introduction to Creative Writing Studies course, or a Professionalization course. I’m seeing these more often, and I’m thrilled — this was not something you necessarily would have encountered ten years ago. In these courses, you’ll learn how to be a graduate student in English (see point #2 here), and you’ll learn to navigate academia, including applying for PhD programs and, later, academic jobs. But, depending on the course and instructor, you’ll also talk author websites (and maybe your university offers tech support here), platform building, query letters, and the publishing industry in general. You’ll learn to submit to literary journals (and this might even be an assignment in the course!). The publishing industry is an insider/outsider industry, and the academic world is, too. You want the training to present yourself as a professional. You usually take one semester of this course, though I have seen smaller versions (1 hour per semester instead of 3) that take place over the course of several semesters.

5. Thesis hours. In most programs, your final year is your thesis year, and you’ll work with a faculty member to draft and revise your project. (Spoiler alert: very few thesis projects are query-ready by the end of this year — it takes so long to write and revise a novel-length project or a collection of short fiction!) This process also varies by instructor, but when I supervise a thesis, I start by asking the student to write about what they’re hoping to accomplish. If it’s a more commercial project, I might ask the student to go through the 14 steps in Jennie Nash’s BLUEPRINT FOR A BOOK (see a review here). But if it’s a more literary project, I’ll work with the writer to figure out the best way to define the goals for the project. From there, we’ll work together over 8 months, using this process: the writer turns in pages, I give feedback, and then we decide on the next step. We usually meet once per month. At the end of the year, the student will defend the thesis project to the committee, and though this is a rigorous process, the outcome is not usually in doubt at this point. (I don’t let a thesis project that is not up to par go to defense, and instead would suggest another semester of work for the writer.) You usually take 3 thesis hours per semester for one academic year.

6. Pedagogy courses, especially if you’re teaching in exchange for tuition and a stipend. Most programs ask you to take a course or two on teaching composition, as this is where most teaching assistantships start. You might be asked to take a course on literary pedagogy if you’re going to teach an intro to literature course, or one on creative writing pedagogy in order to teach creative writing. This requirement varies by program.

7. Forms classes. Not every program has these courses, but these are meant to dive deeply into form possibilities for a genre. You might take a Forms of the Novel course, and read ten novels over the course of the semester (here’s where you would break down structure, by the way!). I’ve also seen Forms of the Essay, Forms of the Short Story, and others. This requirement varies by program.

You’ll also have electives in here, and chances to work with visiting writers, as well. Again, curriculum varies by program, but these are the basics for most programs.

One thing to note here and that’s that graduate school is intense! Many students believe that they’re going to spend three years reading and writing, and they will! But they will fit that reading and writing around all the various commitments as a grad student. I’m not kidding when I say this might be the most academically demanding time of your life.

Have you taken other courses in your MFA? Did I leave anything out? Or can I break down any of these courses a bit more? I truly believe the MFA is worthwhile, but I always want to mention that you don’t need an MFA to be a writer (see my post about becoming a novelist without an MFA).