Gabriela Pereira - DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community

DIY MFA. Copyright 2016 by Gabriela Pereira. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Published by Writers Digest Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, penguinrandomhouse.com

Ebook ISBN 9781599639369

The examples in this book include spoilers that may kill a surprise ending but, on the upside, will increase your knowledge of great literature. These examples include the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games trilogy, and Pride and Prejudice. (Seriously, if you havent read these books by now, were you really planning on reading them anyway?)

In memory of Lenira Cruz Dias,

who gave me the writing genes

This book is for my word nerds,

because you are awesome.

Writing acknowledgements is like delivering an awards speech. At any second, the band will strike up and Ill be ushered offstageor, in this case, offpage. I have so many more people to thank than I can fit here, but know that you are all dear to my heart.

To my agent, Jeff Kleinman, who saw what I could do before I had any idea myself. Thank you for believing in me and in DIY MFA.

To my editor, Rachel Randall, who helped me tame The Beast and corral my ideas into something amazing. To Phil Sexton, for sharing my vision of what this book could be. To the Writers Digest teamespecially Chelsea Henshey, Alexis Estoye, Kim Catanzarite, and Debbie Thomasthank you for making this book impeccable and gorgeous.

To my powerhouse teamElisabeth Kauffman, Bess Cozby, and Emily Wenstromwithout you, DIY MFA would grind to a halt. Elisabeth, you are my counterpoint, balancing my frenzied creativity with calm and good sense. Bess, you curate the website with grace and flair. And Emily, the DIY MFA social media presence couldnt be in better hands.

To the DIY MFA columnists and contributorsSara Letourneau, Leanne Sowul, Constance Renfrow, S.A. Lovett, Melinda VanLone, Wendy Lu, Becca Jordan, Meghan Drummond, Amy Bearce, Kent Bridgeman, Alicia Audrey, and all our guest writersthank you for lending your voices to the website and enriching our community.

To designer/developers KJ Parish, Ben Heller, and Nate Thompson for creating an elegant brand and beautiful website. To Jay Donovan and TechSurgeons for keeping that site speedy and secure. To Christina Gressianu for my behind-the-book headshot, now iconic to DIY MFA.

So many friends have supported me on my writing journey. First and foremost, thank you to my beloved Quill & Coffee, especially Jo LoCicero, Debra Rosenberg, Corey Brown, Tracy Anumolu, Julie Randolph, and David Symonds.

To Julie Duffy: We started big writing projects at the same time and have grown up side by side. I am grateful for your calm, measured presence in my life. To Barbara Baig, my big sister in the WD family, Thien-Kim Lam for smart business advice, and Jessica Greenfield for challenging me to do great work: You ladies rock!

To the writers who trusted me with their words, especially Al Mongillo, Linda Burgess, Diane Johnson, Anne DiCarlo, Joel Knopf, and Stacey Woodson, and to the original word nerd, Laura Highcove, for always being in my corner. To Ghenet Myrthil, Elizabeth Dunn-Ruiz, Kathryn Holmes, and Michael Ann Dobbs: I cant think of anyone else Id want with me in the MFA trenches. Shout-out to Gina Carey, Jodi Kendall, Kim Liggett, and the other Write Nite ladies! And a huge thank-you to my amazing street team.

To Jane Friedman, for giving sensible advice, always grounded in compassion. To the English teachers who taught me to paint words: Abbey Newlin, Frances Taliaferro, Cassandra Cleghorn, Peter Grudin, Susan Breen, Hettie Jones, and Susan Van Metre. To my violin teacher, the late Louise Behrend, who showed me the value of practice; jazz professor Andy Jaffe for teaching me to improvise; and Dan Blank for setting me on the entrepreneurial path. To all my teachers who, regardless of subject, taught me the same important life lesson: If you keep getting answers you dont like, ask another question.

Tomoe Kanaya, you are more than a dear friend; you are family. Thank you for sticking by me through those less-than-glamorous moments. Melissa Paris, thanks for the awesome workouts and even better girl talk. Jerry Finkel, you helped keep me balanced, and Tia Odeves, you always believed in me.

Shout-out to my barista buddies: Tarsha, Chelley, Blair, Andrea, Jasmine, Ralph, Alex, Nene, and the whole crew! Thanks for the smiles and caffeine.

To my parents, Sergio and Maria Pereira, thank you for everything. Seriously, everything. Dad, youre my hero and the ultimate role model for running a business. Mom, youre a shining example that its never too late to follow your passion. To Steve and Karen Maskel, my in-laws, thank you for supporting my love of books and teaching, and to my sister-in-law, Kaitlin, youve proven what it means to take a leap of faith. To my brother, Paulo, and his wife, Sarah, thank you for the unconditional love and support. And to the brilliant, talented Juli: I feel so lucky you are my sister.

Nicholas and Mariana (a.k.a. Little Man and Lady Bug), you amaze me. Every moment with you is an adventure. And thank you to Elizabeth Andeza for taking care of my precious little humans so I could steal away and write this book.

Finally, to my husband, best friend, and partner in crime these thirteen-plus years: Greg, you made this possible. You make everything possible. DIY MFA is as much yours as it is mine. Thank you for helping me make this dream a reality.

Gabriela Pereira is a writer, teacher, and self-proclaimed word nerd who wants to challenge the status quo of higher education. As the founder and instigator of DIY MFA, her mission is to empower writers to take an entrepreneurial approach to their education and professional growth. Gabriela earned her MFA in creative writing from The New School and teaches at national conferences, at local workshops, and online. She is also the host of DIY MFA Radio, a popular podcast where she interviews best-selling authors and offers short audio master classes. To join the word nerd community, go to DIYMFA.com/join.

Jacquelyn Mitchard

When I went to graduate school nearly ten years ago to earn my Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, it was just a couple of years before I turned fifty, and I had already published fifteen books, including three novels that were New York Times bestsellers.
Why did I do go back to school?

I had good reasons.

I wanted to earn the credential. The importance of the MFA was just coming to the fore, and the equivalent in published works didnt have quite the same impact in the academic world. I had long wanted to teach at the college level, to help others learn some of what I had learned (mostly on my own, it must be said), but then, quite suddenly, I also needed a regular, reliable job. A crooked financial advisor my husband trusted took every single cent of our savingsmost of it comprised of what I had earned over more than twenty years as a writer. Though the crook would go to prison, and I would eventually forgive my husband (the rupture in our relationship was as painful as the rupture in our lives) we would never see a dime of our money again. We lost our home, and I had to transition from being a full-time writer to a writer-and-something-else. But that wasnt the only impetus.