SOP take 2

[royalneptune]

Okay so, after last time I pretty much deleted everything and started over again.

For the sake of background info, I'm applying to MFA programs. Right now my SOP is WAY too short for two of the schools requirements, and okay for three. So any suggestions to make the thing longer would be welcome.

Thanks guys.

Comments

[adequaticus]

I'm science/engineering, so feel free to tell me I'm way off here

[royalneptune]

Calling me a bad writer wasn't necessary.

[adequaticus]

I said you do not excel at it. That is definitely not the equivalent of saying you are bad at it.

[adequaticus]

Perhaps it wasn't necessary. Adequaticus is being is his usual harsh self. However, though you might dislike his evaluation, you shouldn't discount his critique. I often disagree with him, but here, his comments are piercingly accurate and thorough. This isn't yet a strong statement.

[zippolit79]

Everyone who enters an MFA program wants to improve their writing, so don't start with that statement. Instead, describe the project you're working on. What is it about? What makes it different from what other people write? Does it fill a gap? How, in professional terms, would you describe your prose style? Basically, what are you trying to accomplish with your writing--and not just in terms of improvement of skill--but what is that you want people to take from your writing? In order to craft a good creative writing SOP, you need to come to terms with yourself as a fiction writer in relation to society/history. That statement might sound unnecessarily full of itself--but the SOP is a full-of-itself genre.

I have experience when it comes to intricate character development and carefully coordinated story lines. I am also very fond of, and excel at, writing dialogue

Cut. The people who read your sample will decide whether or not you are good at dialogue and character development; it's not up to you to tell them.

I took as many

[royalneptune]

Okay I wasn't sure if I SHOULD go into detail on current projects. I am actually very into Young Adult Lit right now, it's growing popularity the possibilities the genre offers. But again, wasn't sure if I should talk about that sort of stuff.

[zippolit79]

Yes, that's exactly what you need to be writing about in your statement. Describe the project you're working on--not as it is but as you'd like it to be.

[royalneptune]

Does it need to be what I'm submitting as my writing sample?

[adequaticus]

My thoughts on paragraph #2

[mydarkestangel]

I'd be more than happy to send you my MFA writing SOP for the program I was accepted into last year-sometimes another person's perspective can be helpful. It can dissuade you from being too stiff with your writing. I ended up going in a completely different direction with the program I am in now, so its all I can really offer. Let me know...

my email is m.heupel[at]yahoo.com

And "juvenile" is just a dismissive adjective used by someone who cannot help but offer criticism without simultaneously kissing his own ass. Get used to those people!

[royalneptune]

omg I think I love you. Yes that would help IMMENSELY. I don't think there are very many MFA candidates on this comm and having an idea of what other successful MFA applicants have written would be very very helpful.

I'm sending you an email now.

And yes, it is. People like that are just being rude and using "being honest" as a flimsy excuse to do so. Jackasses.

[fornikate]

No, really they aren't. You're being overly sensitive.

[fizzykitty]

You are never going to survive workshops if "juvenile" upsets you. I'm in Lit, but my office mate is a poet. Once in workshop, the professor faked vomiting for five minutes and then said, "That's what I think of your work." That is rude. Saying your writing (which is not good here) is juvenile is not.