Instead of a do-it-yourself MFA, I could do a real MFA, and still stay at home, with an online program. There are plenty of such options. Especially now with Covid. That would make it a much more serious commitment. I have to admit that part of the reluctance to doing an MFA is that I may not be ready for the commitment and the sacrifice that it would require in balancing working on the program and keeping up my day job, not to mention the financial commitment. But at least as important of a consideration is that I don't need or want a degree. I want to gain the training and do the writing and end up with the writing product that I feel is the best I can do.
Still, a full MFA program would require me to put forward significant long-term commitment, which is something that I need. The alternative is to take individual classes or workshops. Initially, I thought that I would just do it entirely on my own, and rely on free courses or YouTube videos to have the visual instruction that supplements reading, and then forgo getting feedback. But I suspect that I need something more. Many believe that all MFAs are a waste of money and time, but the proliferation of programs makes it clear that at least some of them are a waste. I don't need a load of additional debt. But spending some money can be a good thing, a way to increase commitment, and provide an opportunity to build a community of writers. Spending some money may be better than trying to do it all for free.
I have been looking at the programs, courses and workshops. Much work just to look. One should be able to earn a degree from going through the process of sorting and identifying all of the courses that fit my needs. Preparing and scheduling a study program looks like it will be taking longer than I anticipated. I am anxious to get key dates calendared but I think that will have to wait until I have done more research.
Browsing through online workshops, I came up with a few suggestions to investigate further:
NYU Professional Pathways
UCLA Extension
24PearlStreet
The Writers Studio
That's a start. In addition there are several options of paid on-line courses without instructor feedback (therefore cheaper) such as Master Class.
Some criteria for choosing a course: Ability to interact with other students is important because a primary goal is to end up with fellow writers with which to collaborate in the future; it is probably wise to delay the more expensive workshops until at least next winter or spring so that when the time comes I am prepared to get the maximum benefit from the class; is it worth spending money on courses without feedback? is it better to take workshops from different programs/schools or to take several workshops from the same school?
I've got work to do.
