Comments, please
Statement of Purpose for grad school:
In applying to a Phd program in creative writing, I hope to close that gap between my vocation and my avocation-between what I do for a living and my love for literature and writing. Over the past ten years I have devoted a considerable amount of time to creative writing, but I have always had to fit it in around working in positions such as a document analyst or technical writer. These jobs do little to further my interest in what I enjoy most, and are ultimately draining. I have always loved writing and literature and a PhD in Creative Writing would enable me to teach at the college level, to share my love of writing and reading, and to be more completely immersed in a culture where literature is valued.
In 1999, I received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from San Francisco State University. My thesis was the draft of the novel, and, during the time that I was in school, I also worked on a number of short stories. While I enjoyed the community aspects of being in school, I never intended that when I finished, I would simply set my writing aside and go onto other things. Following completion of my MFA, I continued to work on my writing and to remain active in the writing community. I did this by participating in residencies at Ragdale Foundation, screening stories for “The Bellevue Literary Review,” attending book and poetry readings in the Chicago area, and participating in a writing group in which many members have won Illinois Arts Council awards and have had numerous short story publications.
To more fully pursue my creative writing activities, I have taken time off for periods of three months to a year from technical or business analysis positions. Yet it has always been a struggle to find time to work on my writing, and working in a corporate environment requires many compromises. Finding a new position after having left a prior one is dependent on many factors: the economy, the market for a given skill, the outsourcing of many jobs to other counties. More importantly, these jobs do not further my writing career or add to my appreciation and understanding of literature. Rather, they have become an increasing frustration that pulls me away from what I want most to do.
Yet, during the time I have been employed at these jobs, I have worked to complete much of the writing that I began while in the MFA program. In the last five years, I have completed multiple revisions of the novel that was my master’s thesis. This novel is at the point where I feel it requires mostly minor revisions, and I have begun to query agents and publishers. I have also continued to rework and submit short stories that I began working on in graduate school. While I have been able to accomplish a considerable amount while working in fields unrelated to writing, a residency in a PhD Creative Writing program would allow me to be even more productive. I would not only get additional feedback on both this novel and the short stories, I would also have the opportunity to participate more fully in a literary community: both to add to the experience of others and to enhance my own.
Along with an opportunity to pursue my creative writing with greater depth, a stronger foundation in literary and critical analysis would not only strengthen my writing but also give me the background required to teach at the college level. This is my ultimate goal in returning to graduate school. Teaching at the college level would provide a way to combine what I already do and love with a viable career. A Doctorate in English would enable me to apply for a wider range of positions, and to qualify for tenure track positions.
Additionally, I am interested in a quantitative analysis of literature as a form. With a background in computer programming and in a position where I read a number of submissions for a literary magazine each month, I often wonder to what extent good writing can be quantified. To what extent does style and phrasing affect a story? Are there words or phrases that tend to be associated with “good” writing versus “bad” writing? Does the repetition of certain words or images influence the quality of the writing? Can plot and increase of tension in a story be measured? I’m interested in determining whether any relationship between word choice, word repetition and/or plot and the quality of a story can be established. While this is not essential, it would be interesting if there was an opportunity to investigate these possibilities.
Having talked to other students and faculty in the PhD Creative Writing program at University of Illinois at Chicago, I believe my prior creative writing experience and involvement in the writing community would enable me to contribute a great deal. I would also benefit from the instructors, particularly those in the creative writing area-such as Cris Mazza and Luis Urrea-whose work I have looked at and respect, and who have been instrumental in helping other students. But I am most excited by the emphasis on both creative output and the study of literature and theory. I believe these two areas influence and enhance the understanding of one other. This balance fits well with my ultimate goal of obtaining a solid literary background, both as an opportunity to share this knowledge with others and as an influence on my own writing.
In applying to a Phd program in creative writing, I hope to close that gap between my vocation and my avocation-between what I do for a living and my love for literature and writing. Over the past ten years I have devoted a considerable amount of time to creative writing, but I have always had to fit it in around working in positions such as a document analyst or technical writer. These jobs do little to further my interest in what I enjoy most, and are ultimately draining. I have always loved writing and literature and a PhD in Creative Writing would enable me to teach at the college level, to share my love of writing and reading, and to be more completely immersed in a culture where literature is valued.
In 1999, I received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from San Francisco State University. My thesis was the draft of the novel, and, during the time that I was in school, I also worked on a number of short stories. While I enjoyed the community aspects of being in school, I never intended that when I finished, I would simply set my writing aside and go onto other things. Following completion of my MFA, I continued to work on my writing and to remain active in the writing community. I did this by participating in residencies at Ragdale Foundation, screening stories for “The Bellevue Literary Review,” attending book and poetry readings in the Chicago area, and participating in a writing group in which many members have won Illinois Arts Council awards and have had numerous short story publications.
To more fully pursue my creative writing activities, I have taken time off for periods of three months to a year from technical or business analysis positions. Yet it has always been a struggle to find time to work on my writing, and working in a corporate environment requires many compromises. Finding a new position after having left a prior one is dependent on many factors: the economy, the market for a given skill, the outsourcing of many jobs to other counties. More importantly, these jobs do not further my writing career or add to my appreciation and understanding of literature. Rather, they have become an increasing frustration that pulls me away from what I want most to do.
Yet, during the time I have been employed at these jobs, I have worked to complete much of the writing that I began while in the MFA program. In the last five years, I have completed multiple revisions of the novel that was my master’s thesis. This novel is at the point where I feel it requires mostly minor revisions, and I have begun to query agents and publishers. I have also continued to rework and submit short stories that I began working on in graduate school. While I have been able to accomplish a considerable amount while working in fields unrelated to writing, a residency in a PhD Creative Writing program would allow me to be even more productive. I would not only get additional feedback on both this novel and the short stories, I would also have the opportunity to participate more fully in a literary community: both to add to the experience of others and to enhance my own.
Along with an opportunity to pursue my creative writing with greater depth, a stronger foundation in literary and critical analysis would not only strengthen my writing but also give me the background required to teach at the college level. This is my ultimate goal in returning to graduate school. Teaching at the college level would provide a way to combine what I already do and love with a viable career. A Doctorate in English would enable me to apply for a wider range of positions, and to qualify for tenure track positions.
Additionally, I am interested in a quantitative analysis of literature as a form. With a background in computer programming and in a position where I read a number of submissions for a literary magazine each month, I often wonder to what extent good writing can be quantified. To what extent does style and phrasing affect a story? Are there words or phrases that tend to be associated with “good” writing versus “bad” writing? Does the repetition of certain words or images influence the quality of the writing? Can plot and increase of tension in a story be measured? I’m interested in determining whether any relationship between word choice, word repetition and/or plot and the quality of a story can be established. While this is not essential, it would be interesting if there was an opportunity to investigate these possibilities.
Having talked to other students and faculty in the PhD Creative Writing program at University of Illinois at Chicago, I believe my prior creative writing experience and involvement in the writing community would enable me to contribute a great deal. I would also benefit from the instructors, particularly those in the creative writing area-such as Cris Mazza and Luis Urrea-whose work I have looked at and respect, and who have been instrumental in helping other students. But I am most excited by the emphasis on both creative output and the study of literature and theory. I believe these two areas influence and enhance the understanding of one other. This balance fits well with my ultimate goal of obtaining a solid literary background, both as an opportunity to share this knowledge with others and as an influence on my own writing.