Craft and Living by Craft

One of the things they do not teach in MFA programs (at least the two I’m familiar with, having earned one for myself at Goddard and worked for one at Pacific University Oregon) is the business of being a writer. There is, in fact, a general discouragement of it in the culture at these programs. “Focus on the craft, on the art,” the say, either directly or through the subtext. I totally understand this point: don’t worry about making a living this way when you need to focus on the practice and technique first.

However.

There really needs to be a discussion of the actual nuts and bolts of what it means to be a working writer. Yes, the are a thousand ways to do this, but some instruction on how book publishers and journals work, the presence of agents in your life, and even the self-publishing route and what it means. This last is increasingly important, I think, as publishing on your own has become easier and more accepted with the introduction the Kindle and other e-readers as a marketplace force in their own right.

Do other artistic pursuits give instruction on this sort of thing? Do actors in drama school receive a course on agents and contract law as it applies to them? Seems like it would be relevant. Sure, there are guilds and trade associations that can help, but often there are parameters you must meet to join, from publishing a book first to paying dues. Just seems like a Masters program would be the perfect place to address the fundamentals of these issues.