I just wanted to send a quick word or two about THE PORTABLE MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING. I read it over the weekend, and it is really terrific. I usually don't like books about writing but I really appreciated the subtlety and humor in your fiction section. I attended the University of Colorado's Master's program in creative writing, and felt much the way you did-- it was fun, LOTS of fun, and I had time to begin my novel and write two chapbooks as well, but I didn't learn a whole lot.
PW, Massachusetts
… I received the 'Portable MFA' and I love it. I have 'Writing Fiction' by Janet Burroway which covers the undergrad. material and now I have the graduate material. Yey! It goes with me everywhere. Thank you, thank you.
TSM, New York
…I read your book and thought it was great! I found the different chapters not only helpful and informative, but cohesive and a pleasure to read. I would recommend this book to my writing colleagues with enthusiasm!
EW-B, Ph.D., New York
I'm reading your book The Portable MFA in Creative Writing and enjoying it. I'm in an MFA program: Whidbey Writers Workshop, a low-residency program about to begin its third semester, and accredited by the state of Washington. Whidbey is an island in Puget Sound. Last semester the writing instructor did pretty much all of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 in your list of flaws. … Your description of the 'flaws' in workshop leaders validated my experience in the semester just past (my first). I've begun working on the 'assignments' in the fiction chapter. The examples are very helpful. I am ignorant about mainstream fiction, so I just came back from our local bookstore with Edith Wharton's book and Coetzee's; books you list at the end of the chapter. Thank you for writing the book. Hope you sell millions.
PA, Washington
I have an unsolicited plug for the new book, The Portable MFA in Creative Writing (from Writer's Digest Books), co-authored by Charles Salzberg, his colleague Tim Tomlinson, and others. I am just delving into it and finding it very worthwhile. Available on Amazon and bookstores widely.
SP, Nashville, TN
I'm e-mailing to tell you how much I love The Portable MFA. I've only gotten to page 30, and already I feel as if I've been given a missing key--the key to actually writing a story that works. I've gotten good with POV, with scene, with dialogue, with the prose itself -- but plot? Structure? Narrative drive? Forget it. So my characters flail around in eloquently described but ineffectually plotted worlds, and my stories never come to fruition. I'd been losing hope; the book gave it back.
LP, Brooklyn, NY