2021 Applicants Forum

[goodcynara]

16 minutes ago, M-Lin said:

Sorry to hear - rejection sucks. 

I saw that you like Leonard Cohen. 

Here is one more thing you could do to deal with rejections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFl7Aex-FN4

 (context: the journalist Maziar Bahari was imprisoned and being interrogated in Iran for 118 days, and, at one point, he chose to dance to the music in his head, though I think this didn't happen in real life lol)

 

Here for the LC love. If you haven't gotten to the posthumous release, Thanks for the Dance, beautifully produced by his son, Adam, it is a stunner.

[goodcynara]

5 minutes ago, omgalexx said:

Creative Non Fiction! I'm excited for the mock class later this week for my genre. 

I'm really interested in the program and excited about the idea of being by the city but not in the city lol. But I didn't get much funding...I'm hoping to ask for more and see how that is received. 

Do it for sure. Paige said that more funding can definitely open up circa the April 15 deadline. 

[Blackhole]

Just now, goodcynara said:

Here for the LC love. If you haven't gotten to the posthumous release, Thanks for the Dance, beautifully produced by his son, Adam, it is a stunner.

I love it  

[goodcynara]

17 minutes ago, Blackhole said:

that's so lovely. I am a journalist and I figured I can't write fiction. We see such weird stuff around us all the time that it is very hard for me to imagine plots and stuff. Today I interviewed a man who raped a woman and then married her to escape punishment and thinks he did nothing wrong. I listened to him for hours and then I saw the rejection. And it didn't bother me somehow. That's the thing. We become such tough people sometimes. 

 

But maybe I can dance. 

 

I will dance. 

 

At 41, it isn't a bad thing to dance. It is good exercise at least. 

This is a potent, lovely, and honest scene. You can write fiction. You can write.

[goodcynara]

2 minutes ago, Blackhole said:

I love it  

This is the kind of club to which I want to belong!

[amyiable]

hi all. brand new here. ? the stress made me do it. Creative Writing, Nonfiction MFA applicant. Been sweating it out for weeks waiting to hear back from schools. Wondering if there are any nonfiction folks here and if any have heard anything from NYU?

also, wondering if anyone else was accepted to Columbia and wants to share their thinking about it? 

 

[oubukibun]

Technically, that's non-fiction since it actually happened and it is a recounting of the event. 

I don't think anyone here really needs to worry about being a terrible writer.  Part of writing is that continuum of changing styles and evolving technique.

Besides, someone out there wholeheartedly believes the Twilight books were written just for them, and adore each installment, and love the prose.

It seems silly to ever think of oneself as a terrible writer in general...  Perhaps one just hasn't found the writing one should be writing is all. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by oubukibun

[Baked potato]

6 hours ago, iai said:

It seems like it’s probably a call looking at the poetry and CNF acceptances so far! ?

Hi there! Can I ask where did you see the listing for poetry acceptances? So far I’ve only seen CNF acceptances...

Also, international student here, very nervous ?

 

[iai]

1 minute ago, Baked potato said:

Hi there! Can I ask where did you see the listing for poetry acceptances? So far I’ve only seen CNF acceptances...

Also, international student here, very nervous ?

 

On Twitter! I saw two people post about it. I just got an email from a professor I contacted, and they said they haven’t sent out fiction notifications yet. I’ll try asking when they might be sending them /:

[M-Lin]

21 minutes ago, Blackhole said:

also, that's my favourite Leonard Cohen song. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank you ?

You're welcome! And (good) journalists rock! One of my favorite writers is Peter Hessler and the narrative nonfiction he writes is much more compelling than most fiction out there. I imagine that there's so much you're able to explore from your unique position. I also see that you're from India! I recently read A Burning by Megha Majumdar and though I don't know how the novel came about, I wouldn't be surprised if it came from different pieces of local news. But I don't know your country, so it probably speaks to you differently. 

Here's to more acceptances coming your way! And everyone's way, for that matter. ?

 

[Baked potato]

7 minutes ago, iai said:

On Twitter! I saw two people post about it. I just got an email from a professor I contacted, and they said they haven’t sent out fiction notifications yet. I’ll try asking when they might be sending them /:

Oh, I see, thanks for the info...

 

I applied to poetry, and I haven’t gotten a call yet. I suspect it’s rejection at this point ?

 

Anyways, good luck on fiction! 

[Cristie]

2 hours ago, CrankyGinger said:

I'm waiting on CU, as well. I thought I had heard The New School contacted people, am I wrong?

Did you guys see the news that all the GA's at Columbia are on strike? I'm not an applicant there but hope that doesn't slow down the process for you all who are. 

[goodcynara]

16 minutes ago, oubukibun said:

Technically, that's non-fiction since it actually happened and it is a recounting of the event. 

I don't think anyone here really needs to worry about being terrible writers.  Part of writing is that continuum of changing styles and evolving technique.

Besides, someone out there wholeheartedly believes the Twilight books were written just for them, and adore each installment, and love the prose.

It seems silly to ever think of oneself as a terrible writer in general...  Perhaps one just hasn't found the writing one should be writing is all. 

LOL, agreed on all counts!

[oubukibun]

Thanks for quoting me, as now I see I made a boo-boo concerning my use of a plural noun after my singular indefinite pronoun.

Gotta keep myself honest.

Anyone else here check up on their grammar with a monthly quiz or exam?  No?  Just me?  Okay then...

[Blackhole]

1 minute ago, goodcynara said:

This is a potent, lovely, and honest scene. You can write fiction. You can write.

awwww. thank you so much. you make me feel better already.

fiction is so difficult. I met this man in a distant town once. he was wearing rags and playing his violin in a window. I went up to him and asked him if I can speak with him. he refused. I found out he plays the violin for his caged parakeet from morning to evening. I went back the next day and saw him with the bird. He refused to talk to me again. To cut a long story short, I found out he is eccentric. He lives alone. He throws water on people who approach him. I did manage to speak to him on my next trip. He invited me to have a drink with him last month when I was there. I wanted to weave a plot around him. I couldn't I keep going back to him to know more. I was unable to imagine beyond what I saw. I guess that's what it boils down to. 

I hope I can do it. maybe. one day.

[Blackhole]

23 minutes ago, goodcynara said:

This is the kind of club to which I want to belong!

me too, me too

[Blackhole]

14 minutes ago, M-Lin said:

You're welcome! And (good) journalists rock! One of my favorite writers is Peter Hessler and the narrative nonfiction he writes is much more compelling than most fiction out there. I imagine that there's so much you're able to explore from your unique position. I also see that you're from India! I recently read A Burning by Megha Majumdar and though I don't know how the novel came about, I wouldn't be surprised if it came from different pieces of local news. But I don't know your country, so it probably speaks to you differently. 

Here's to more acceptances coming your way! And everyone's way, for that matter. ?

 

yay. we can explore but sometimes it gets too much. all this life around you. I haven't read Megha's book yet but will order it right away. my head is full of these stories, these people and all these issues. I need to find a way to imagine more :::))))

 

I hope everyone gets nice emails about admissions. and everyone figures out how to deal with rejections :::)))

[CrankyGinger]

26 minutes ago, Cristie said:

Did you guys see the news that all the GA's at Columbia are on strike? I'm not an applicant there but hope that doesn't slow down the process for you all who are. 

Whoa didn’t hear about that. Daaaaaaaaaaamn. Now I wanna know all the things.

[Cristie]

31 minutes ago, oubukibun said:

Technically, that's non-fiction since it actually happened and it is a recounting of the event. 

I don't think anyone here really needs to worry about being a terrible writer.  Part of writing is that continuum of changing styles and evolving technique.

Besides, someone out there wholeheartedly believes the Twilight books were written just for them, and adore each installment, and love the prose.

It seems silly to ever think of oneself as a terrible writer in general...  Perhaps one just hasn't found the writing one should be writing is all. 

I love to push the limits in nonfiction though...using metaphor, imagination and dreams, skewed memories, etc. Creative nonfiction or autofiction (it's ok to break the rules a bit).

And for Blackhole...when I get stumped. I just open a dictionary, blindly flip to a page and put my finger down. Then I look at all the other words on that one page that I can use...the brain starts putting things together and boom...story. What I'm saying is that sometimes writing prompts help. Word a day calendars, google writing prompt lists. You like Leonard-he's powerful. Turn a song into a story. Music is a great writing inspiration too. I wrote an entire novel over an old Echo and the Bunnymen song. Over a single line about a blue moon that caught me. Another over the line "on the edge of seventeen"- and I bet we could all write a story based on that line alone. I've used Stevie Nix, Black Sabbath, Cowboy Junkies...all kinds of music. People watching...in the grocery, stuck in traffic...keep a notepad on your dash for stoplight inspiration...make them all serial killers, escaped prisoners, lovers or whatever your thing is. Everyone around you is a possible character. I'm already intrigued by the people you've mentioned so far. Use them.

I'd love to hear what others do when they hit that wall. 

Team Edward... Oubukibun...(not really, but the Twilight thing made me chuckle).  

[corgeel14]

WAITLISTED AT NYU. JUST NOW. I KNOW THATS NOT NECESSARILY THE BEST NEWS BUT THEY WERE MY TOP CHOICE AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS STILL SO VALIDATING RN??? ITS NOT THE WORST NEWS??

[groverdreams]

1 hour ago, amyiable said:

hi all. brand new here. ? the stress made me do it. Creative Writing, Nonfiction MFA applicant. Been sweating it out for weeks waiting to hear back from schools. Wondering if there are any nonfiction folks here and if any have heard anything from NYU?

also, wondering if anyone else was accepted to Columbia and wants to share their thinking about it? 

 

I applied to creative non-fiction at NYU, too. I just got notified that I'm on the waitlist via email about 5 minutes ago. 

[Cristie]

1 minute ago, corgeel14 said:

WAITLISTED AT NYU. JUST NOW. I KNOW THATS NOT NECESSARILY THE BEST NEWS BUT THEY WERE MY TOP CHOICE AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS STILL SO VALIDATING RN??? ITS NOT THE WORST NEWS??

Congrats, I'm in the camp that waitlists can be a good thing. I wouldn't balk at getting waitlisted. I'd do a little dance because it's NOT a rejection...very validating for your feelings about your writing!

[shakyboots]

Just got waitlisted at NYU as well for Creative Writing about five minutes ago. I want to be really excited, but y'all have said their waitlist doesn't usually have much movement... Not sure exactly how strong my chance is of getting bumped to an offer of admission.

[SMSM1229]

Also NYU waitlisted! What does this mean? Is it very hard to get off the waitlist? Also, does anybody know how many people they waitlist? Thanks!

[Blackhole]

30 minutes ago, Cristie said:

I love to push the limits in nonfiction though...using metaphor, imagination and dreams, skewed memories, etc. Creative nonfiction or autofiction (it's ok to break the rules a bit).

And for Blackhole...when I get stumped. I just open a dictionary, blindly flip to a page and put my finger down. Then I look at all the other words on that one page that I can use...the brain starts putting things together and boom...story. What I'm saying is that sometimes writing prompts help. Word a day calendars, google writing prompt lists. You like Leonard-he's powerful. Turn a song into a story. Music is a great writing inspiration too. I wrote an entire novel over an old Echo and the Bunnymen song. Over a single line about a blue moon that caught me. Another over the line "on the edge of seventeen"- and I bet we could all write a story based on that line alone. I've used Stevie Nix, Black Sabbath, Cowboy Junkies...all kinds of music. People watching...in the grocery, stuck in traffic...keep a notepad on your dash for stoplight inspiration...make them all serial killers, escaped prisoners, lovers or whatever your thing is. Everyone around you is a possible character. I'm already intrigued by the people you've mentioned so far. Use them.

I'd love to hear what others do when they hit that wall. 

Team Edward... Oubukibun...(not really, but the Twilight thing made me chuckle).  

this is a damn good suggestion. perhaps I should start doing it. listen to songs, get prompts, make up plots...

 

I tried using the people I have met (killers, prostitutes, rapists, thieves, prisoners) but I couldn't. maybe I need to devote time to this. can't do it with a job that involves writing. I guess I am the biggest obstacle for myself. but you guys are so lovely and so supportive.