Hours Quote by Lauren Groff

I sold a book six years after I left an MFA program. In between, there was a lot of endurance of poverty and a…

— Chad Harbach

After college, I was burdened with student loans to repay, no financial cushion, so I wasn't in a position to bet everything on a…

— Chris Pavone

The MFA program did one great thing for me: It taught me how to be a better reader and critic. Nothing I wrote during…

— Dinaw Mengestu

I did go to an MFA program, at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. For me, it worked perfectly. It was a small program.…

— Anthony Doerr

I was so sure I wanted to be a novelist. I would spend hours and hours every day writing. Little stories about nothing in…

— Samantha Shannon

My first novel was turned down by half a dozen publishers. And even after having published five or six books, I wasn't making enough…

— Ian Rankin

I have an MFA in writing. It is debatable if they are right for everyone, but I had a mentor who really changed my…

— Rob Roberge

When I got out of college, I had to make a living, and I started writing for magazines, and it felt like the perfect…

— Peter Heller

The effects of MFA programs, and the rise of creative writing instruction more generally, are far more diffuse than people think. Even if you're…

— Chad Harbach

In the business world, I did fairly well, but wasn't happy. A bout of sciatica put me flat on my back. All I could…

— Sandra Cisneros

I left my job in the fall, and now I can set my life up around writing instead of squeezing writing into my day;…

— Karen Thompson Walker

I held a variety of jobs - most notably ten years working in universities - and kept on writing.

— Thomas Perry