My Rebel MFA Degree

Why I'm making my own rules for my education and experience

Let’s be honest, I was social distancing before it was the “cool” thing to do. I also was a course junkie before the pandemic ever hit, so there’s that. I’m hungry for learning in a way that never feels satiated. At least, it hasn’t felt that way since college. I tried to go back to school to get my Technical Writing Degree but I didn’t love it (should have known) and my virtual assistant business was taking off. Since then, I’ve thought about going back to school so many times I can’t even count. I’ve gone as far as to request packets of information from some MFA-specific schools. But there’s a part of me that resists this. I know that learning is what I need, but why do I need a degree in it? Why can’t I bestow upon myself the gift of designing my very own “Rebel MFA Degree” where independent study is the name of the game. And a bonus — I don’t have to be graded or do shit I don’t want to do.

Plus, there’s already someone out there advocating for this very thing. I’ve long followed Gabriela Pereira and her D.I.Y. MFA blog. In fact, I’ve tried this route before using her methodology but I wasn’t in the right place to follow through. Now, I feel like I have enough of the pieces of the puzzle to put it all together, again.

So what is the D.I.Y. MFA formula she suggests?

• Write with Focus

• Read with Purpose

• Build Your Community

Hmm, this seems to be exactly what I’ve already been doing without intentionally knowing it. But when I realized that my hunger for learning about writing wasn’t been fed (and my creativity and writing life suffered because of it), I decided it was time to try again. 2022 would be my year of the Rebel MFA Degree.

I even decided to take it one step further and research how actual creative writing MFA programs were describing their programs.

One of the best examples I could find was none other than The University of Minnesota (representin’)!

Here is how they describe their Creative Writing MFA program:

The Department of English offers the Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing for students committed to pursuing the writing life. This three-year degree provides advanced graduate-level coursework in writing, language, literature, as well as studies in a related field. The third year of the program focuses on the final development of a book-length manuscript suitable for publication, the MFA essay, and the MFA thesis defense. (https://cla.umn.edu/creative-writing/graduate/mfa)

I LOVE this description because so much of it is doable outside a university setting. The bolded parts of the quote are areas I feel fairly confident I could complete. [Obviously, the MFA essay and thesis defense is an issue — but fuck it — if I’m making up my own damn MFA program, then I can decide if I want that to be part of my journey. Maybe I’d write an MFA thesis just for shits and giggles.]

The point is — 90% of the education I need can be found through various platforms or creators. This is where Gabriella’s formula comes in handy. Not only will taking these classes fulfill the “write with focus” aspect, but it also means I’ll have to “read with purpose.”

And then, of course, there’s the matter of the community. Which is awesome because guess what? I RUN A WRITING-FOCUSED COMMUNITY. Can you believe the irony? Additionally, I’m in a morning writing group, a mastermind, and a few other writing communities. Trust me, I’m getting the best of the best when it comes to building communities.

Rebel DIY MFA “Requirements”

• Committed to pursuing the writing life [Write with focus]

  • Not only am I deeply committed to pursuing the writing life — I am living it. This one is a no-brainer for me.

• Advanced graduate-level coursework in writing, language, literature, as well as studies in a related field. [Write with focus, Read for purpose, Build community]

  • I decided to focus my “first semester” of classes on topics like:

    • Fairytale Heroines Seminar Series [The Carterhaugh School]

    • Magical Realism & Cultural Context [Catapult]

    • The Psychology of Characters [Catapult]

    • Becoming Monsters: How to use horror, myth, and monsters to discover new ways to tell stories [Catapult]

    • Fiction Writing for Highly Sensitive Creatives [Lauren Sapala]

  • For my second semester, I’m looking at classes through Gotham Writers Workshop, Loft Literary Center, and Writing the Other.

• The final development of a book-length manuscript suitable for publication [Write with focus]

  • This is something I could technically cross off my list as I’ve produced 20 books suitable for publication, already. I’m also in the middle of finishing my first nonfiction book, Forged in Fire: Writing Fiction to Heal. But I think the natural byproduct of this Rebel MFA education will be a new book-length manuscript suitable for publication. Either way, I feel confident in this “requirement.”

Creative Rebellion

Designing your own MFA program isn’t the only way to dive into creative rebellion. It can be pursuing a story someone said you should never tell. It can be writing about your trauma in an empowering way. Creative rebellion can take any shape or form because even the act of putting your thoughts down on paper has power. To me, creative rebellion means stepping into your own power as a person and as a writer and determining your fate for yourself. Fuck the gatekeepers, fuck the people who say that you cannot do something simply because it hasn’t been done before. Creative rebellion means sticking your middle finger to whatever limiting beliefs have held you back and going forward anyway. I know you have what it takes to do it, too. Do you?