Thoughts on an MA... or what they DIDN'T teach me in college...

I want to be a professional.  I understand that to make a living solely on the production of words of fiction is possible, but not a given, and it takes sales (something a new author isn’t going to have up front) to maintain a career.   But, writing quality aside, before there can be sales there must be professionalism.   Specifically understanding some of the nuts and bolts of the business side of writing.  I write this still from a position of trying to figure it out, but also as someone with a Master’s degree related to the field but still feeling like someone who is just starting out and never set foot in a classroom.

Let me elaborate on that as little bit.  Yes, I am a better writer because of the classes: understanding the nuts and bolts elements of point of view (POV), staging, structuring and pacing better than if I hadn’t taken them.  I have also learned quite a bit about the craft of teaching writing (and said elements) which is something I’ve thought a lot about.  Ultimately, teaching is something I want to do, but tenured teaching positions at the university level are driven by publishing credits.  Which is what prompted this entry.  What was taught were aspects of the craft, but close to nothing about the business side of things.

How to embark on writing as a profession.

Cover letters, query letters and marketing.   Simple items, yes, but items that only received a cursory overview when discussed in class – usually only on the last day of the session, and often more of an afterthought than as a planned conversation.  What about going to conferences (other than academic ones), you know, to promote these wonderful tomes of goodness that we have channeled into the world?  What about splitting the hairs between academic and creative hats?  Market selection, contracts and other career advice?  Anything involving the actual business of writing.

I have a couple of resources now (thanks to Charlie Stross’s CMAP series, or John Scalzi’s  “You’re not fooling anyone…” among others) that have helped tremendously with my understanding of the business side of things, and they will find continued uses in the classroom as both supplemental reading and initial guidance for students that may be in similar shoes as my own.