somemoretrees

This "New Yorker test" thing is such a misguided way of viewing your writing, like, are there certain formulaic tendencies in the literary fiction that gets published today? Sure. But that's honestly one of the biggest weaknesses in contemporary writing. I don't really like much of the stuff that gets published in journals like the New Yorker for this exact reason. Also there are so many other cool places to publish besides the New Yorker. Literary journals (and MFA adcoms) all have their own aesthetic preferences, contemporary fiction is not a monolith. MFA programs want to see inventive and exciting prose. They want to see a strong and singular voice in development. They do not want to see recycled tendencies and overused conventions. The kind of thinking that produces the "New Yorker test" is just so reductive, I mean come on now, we're supposed to be creative writers, lol.

Hi all, been refreshing this page (and draft) non-stop since I found it a couple weeks ago, and finally decided to post something. So I'm waitlisted at my top choice, was interviewed for a TA position, and when I reached out to the department they said it was a very short list (2-3 per genre). This is all wonderful and I'm excited but........... I am absolutely losing my shit with the waiting. Is anybody else in a similar position? These waitlists are agonizing.