creative writing MFA statement of purpose?
hi everyone, my name is alana. this year, i'm applying to three MFA programs in creative nonfiction: university of arizona, university of new mexico, and university of iowa. i've been obsessing over my writing sample for the past couple of months. i've workshopped parts of it, showed it to family and professors, all that good stuff. i feel like i'm set with that at least in terms of material, although i'm still in the editing phase.
anyway, as i'm not taking the GREs and have gotten transcripts and LORs in order, all that's really left is the dreaded SOP. i'm having an unbelievable amount of trouble with them, specifically arizona's because it can only be 250 words. the other two are 500, but i'm stuck there too.
i guess my biggest problem is articulating my reasons behind wanting to do this and my goals after graduating. i feel like everything i write will sound generic and boring. my general story is no different than most. i started writing when i was really young, it's always been a passion, etc. i did decide to write a memoir when i was 9 years old and have kept journals most of my life for this reason, so that's sort of interesting. i wish that i could mention more specific reasons, like wanting to write a memoir about my struggle with depression and anxiety disorders my whole life, but that seems risky.
i know we're all sort of going through this, but i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. thanks!
anyway, as i'm not taking the GREs and have gotten transcripts and LORs in order, all that's really left is the dreaded SOP. i'm having an unbelievable amount of trouble with them, specifically arizona's because it can only be 250 words. the other two are 500, but i'm stuck there too.
i guess my biggest problem is articulating my reasons behind wanting to do this and my goals after graduating. i feel like everything i write will sound generic and boring. my general story is no different than most. i started writing when i was really young, it's always been a passion, etc. i did decide to write a memoir when i was 9 years old and have kept journals most of my life for this reason, so that's sort of interesting. i wish that i could mention more specific reasons, like wanting to write a memoir about my struggle with depression and anxiety disorders my whole life, but that seems risky.
i know we're all sort of going through this, but i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. thanks!