| By :
Mark Etinger
A couple of years ago N+1 declared that there are two avenues for a young writer to walk for success: the MFA or the NYC. The MFA programs use workshops and tenured professors to welcome young writers into paying absurd tuitions in hopes that their works will soon be published. The chances of publishing are greater with a university-brand MFA on the back page of your stories. The NYC writer has a greater challenge, vying with the equally "unqualified" but can yield grander rewards if he breaks into the city's publishing market. But for those considering self-publishing using book binding services, does an MFA really make your work better? This is a complicated question. For one, the exposure to canonical MFA literature can enhance and familiarize the young writer with what has been done in the recent past, as well as instruct him how to write similarly successful, yet different, stories. But the hefty price tag, and the relative ease of the MFA beg the question: is it worth it? An MFA doesn't ensure publication of short stories (the degree's favored genre). Nor does it ensure hobnobbing with aforementioned tenured professors. But it does allow for exposure to a web of socializing and networking among other writers. Basic techniques such as "show don't tell" are laws the MFA student lives by, which ultimately make for better writing. But for the determined NYC writer who has a basic background in reading and writing, these lessons are just as obvious and the networking abilities just as difficult to tap into. Yet the MFA culture persists. It is a powerful tool for the writer who wants to take his collection of short stories from the book binding services to the bookshelves. In the same way a college degree from an elite university doesn't guarantee a high-paying job, it does suggest a track for the ambitious. The MFA thus may make it easier to become published, but the informed and ambitious NYC writer has arguably as good of a chance. The best writers read and write a lot. They show their work to friends and family members and take criticism selectively. No matter the background all writers want their books to be read, and to continue to be read. In that case, the most important step is publishing, with or without the backing of a publishing house or monthly periodical. For that book binding services are the perfect medium.
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