Aw you're sweet ;D As for studying POV--it was entirely fascinating, and not nearly as ridiculous (or difficult) as the class I took on character and authorial voice, which took a simple concept and deepened it to the point where all my thoughts about it were completely dismantled and which I still haven't recovered from.
As for pondering...getting my MFA made me a much more thoughtful, aware writer, even if it also made the process infinitely more complicated and uncertain. It's probably just as effective to read a great many textbooks and classical novels and then get drunk with a bunch of highly-analytical writer friends at a bar to argue about what you've read (definitely much cheaper, even if you're drinking top-shelf). Although nothing really replicates the sheer soul-destroying misery and terror that is The Workshop. There's nothing like having your story torn to pieces by people who are equally invested in watching you get better because they need you to return the favor and watching you fail so they can be the best. It was excruciating, but I produced some of my best writing while I was there, so it's hard to fault the process. Plus, there's really nothing that anyone can say about my stuff now that I can't blow off.
I think Draco appeals to the part of all of us that can be petty and mean despite the fact that we're not petty and mean people, and he's completely id-enjoyable, if that makes sense. Plus, in some ways, he's very reassuring as a character--no matter how shoddy we are as people, he's done worse, and if he's redeemable, then so are we. Besides, he does have his compensatory qualities, doesn't he? ;D
And I adored Madame Bovary! It was beautiful and sad and Flaubert writes the most perfect sentences. I read it in about 2 days and felt completely insignificant as a writer for like, a week afterwards. The bastard. (And yes, then I had to go try to do all the things he did, albeit with rather less-stellar results). Another one that I found myself in awe of was East of Eden. Have you read it? I'm not actually a huge Steinbeck fan, but I couldn't put that one down.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2016-05-20 10:08 pm (UTC)As for pondering...getting my MFA made me a much more thoughtful, aware writer, even if it also made the process infinitely more complicated and uncertain. It's probably just as effective to read a great many textbooks and classical novels and then get drunk with a bunch of highly-analytical writer friends at a bar to argue about what you've read (definitely much cheaper, even if you're drinking top-shelf). Although nothing really replicates the sheer soul-destroying misery and terror that is The Workshop. There's nothing like having your story torn to pieces by people who are equally invested in watching you get better because they need you to return the favor and watching you fail so they can be the best. It was excruciating, but I produced some of my best writing while I was there, so it's hard to fault the process. Plus, there's really nothing that anyone can say about my stuff now that I can't blow off.
I think Draco appeals to the part of all of us that can be petty and mean despite the fact that we're not petty and mean people, and he's completely id-enjoyable, if that makes sense. Plus, in some ways, he's very reassuring as a character--no matter how shoddy we are as people, he's done worse, and if he's redeemable, then so are we. Besides, he does have his compensatory qualities, doesn't he? ;D
And I adored Madame Bovary! It was beautiful and sad and Flaubert writes the most perfect sentences. I read it in about 2 days and felt completely insignificant as a writer for like, a week afterwards. The bastard. (And yes, then I had to go try to do all the things he did, albeit with rather less-stellar results). Another one that I found myself in awe of was East of Eden. Have you read it? I'm not actually a huge Steinbeck fan, but I couldn't put that one down.