GCSU graduate students persist, some published

Graduate students involved in GCSU’s award-winning creative writing program are showcasing their talents by publishing works in prestigious literary journals across the nation.

Martin Lammon, director of the creative writing program, explains that the writing process requires time and focus to complete a substantial literary work.

“We (creative writing program) emphasize that students shouldn’t worry about being published,” Lammon said. “Students should only worry about doing their best writing first.”

Although a graduate student may complete a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, Lammon believes that holding a degree in writing does not necessarily mean one is ready to publish.

“Students right out of college may need more time to perfect their writing skills,” Lammon said.  “Graduates need time to draft, revise and revise again before submitting work to journals.  Writers should give themselves a year to live with a poem before sending it off.”

Creative writing graduate student Josh Ruffin explains that the submission process for literary journals can be tedious, lengthy and complicated for hopeful writers.

“First you have to find out who’s accepting,” Ruffin said. “Some journals read year-round, others only a few months out of the year.”

An important part of the submission process is abiding by the specific guidelines and regulations set by each literary journal.

“After finding out which journals are accepting, it’s just a matter of seeing what their guidelines are,” Ruffin said. “These guidelines may include submitting print submissions opposed to online, how many poems you can submit at one time, reading fees, and cover letters.”

In the past year Ruffin has published two poems, “December Weight Training: The Parking Lot” and “The Way My Uncle Smoked.”

Ruffin’s “December Weight Training: The Parking Lot” can be found in the upcoming edition of literary journal “The Pinch” produced by the University of Memphis, and “The Way My Uncle Smoked” will be available in “Eclipse,” a journal at Glendale Community College in California.

Ruffin advises aspiring creative writers to develop patience and a thick skin before submitting work to literary journals.

“The whole process takes time, and you will get rejected,” Ruffin said. “Just keep writing, keep revising and keep submitting.”

One way writers increase their chances of getting work published in literary journals is by reading to keep up with the landscape of modern literature.

“Read a lot, especially authors in the literary journals you want to be in,” Lammon said. “If your goal is to write more artistically, focus on those types of journals.”

Ruffin is looking forward to what lies ahead for his writing career, and has set goals to accomplish in the near future.

“I currently have a few packets of work under consideration at some journals, and am also at hard work on my thesis, a collection of 35 or 40 poems,” Ruffin said. “I hope to publish a book within the next five or six years.”

Another Master of Fine Arts creative writing graduate student, Ashley Emmert has recently published work in a literary journal.

“I received notification of my first publication in ‘Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art’ back in August,” Emmert said.  “My poems, ‘Two in the Pasture’ and ‘After Thirty Years of Working Double Shifts,’ will appear in their next issue scheduled to release this month.”

Like Ruffin, Emmert played the waiting game after submitting her work to numerous literary journals in hopes of publishing her poems.

“The poems ‘Kestrel’ accepted I had sent out last spring,” Emmert said. “It usually takes two to four months to get a response from literary journals.”

Although Emmert has successfully published two poems this year, she is already hard at work submitting more poems to literary magazines in hopes of bettering her career.

“While I plan on continuing to write and submit long after I graduate, there’s added pressure to publish right now while I’m still in the creative writing program,” Emmert said. “More and more, getting work depends on an applicant’s experience in teaching and publication, and less in how many master’s and doctorate degrees one has earned.”

Emmert is quick to remind aspiring creative writers that successful writing does not happen without hard work, editing and multiple revisions.

“Every draft is just another window into a better draft we haven’t written yet,” Emmert said. “We won’t know what we will discover until we take those current poems, stories or essays and try doing something different with them.”

Posted by Lindsay Shoemake on Nov 11 2010. Filed under Close Up. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.