Can Writing Be Taught?

The debate about MFA programs seems to be reignited every once in a while, as it has this time in this New Yorker piece. I always read these articles with great interest, to see on which side the author will come out: making MFAs feel as though they’ve wasted their money, or making me feel bad for never having gotten one.

I really like how the web site for the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop puts it: “The fact that the Workshop can claim as alumni nationally and internationally prominent poets, novelists, and short story writers is, we believe, more the result of what they brought here than of what they gained from us.”

I have the same teaching philosophy as Iowa — that “writing cannot be taught but that writers can be encouraged” — and I’m not just saying that. To accomplish anything as an instructor, you need students who are motivated, who are willing to work hard, and who have something to say. It’s so exciting to see former students do well — and a lot of fun to believe you had something to do with their achievements — but in the end, if they did the work, they’re the ones who earned it. (Though try explaining the opposite to disgruntled students when grades are posted.)

For those who don’t seek an MFA, there are conferences and independent programs that allow writers to find the encouragement they need (Seattle’s Richard Hugo House, for example, offers reading classes as well as writing classes). Having been both an attendee and a presenter at various conferences, it’s clear that a well-chosen, reputable conference can provide much of what an aspiring writer needs: tools, workshops, agents, editors, the company of fellow writers, lessons from veteran authors, and (usually) plenty of alcohol.

On that note, I was saddened to learn that the Nieman Foundation is suspending its Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism for 2009-10. If you’ve been to this conference — and especially if you have not — pick up a copy of Telling True Stories, which gathers together a wealth of information on writing and reporting from writers who have presented there, among them Susan Orlean, Nora Ephron, and Tom Wolfe. While it may be aimed toward nonfiction writers, I’ve found it enlightening as a fiction writer as well. In the end, it’s all about the story.