Do you ever have times when your brain isn’t working? I’m having one of those times. Reviews and blurb requests have stacked up, and yet…stalled. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve written a new poem I’m happy with. It could be related to health stuff, or moving, or the wintertime. In any event, I’m waiting for this fog to clear…maybe I’ll do some submissions? I’ve been kind of lazy about those for the last few months.

Real-life advice on MFA programs I would give to my own family! Free!
My little brother, a successful web guy, is considering an MFA program. I gave him a lot of the same advice I give people who e-mail me for help on these matters all the time, advice I wish I’d had when I first started thinking about the MFA thing:
Research the MFA program’s faculties. Make sure the people you like are actually going to be there while you’re planning to study there. Sabbaticals happen.
Apply to more than one program. You never know who is going to be drawn to your work, and it may or may not be the program that’s your first choice.
Be sure it fits the program fits your lifestyle (in his case, low-res was my recommendation. I just think you get better one-on-one attention from your advisors that you would at most residential programs (at least that was true for me) and for most people over 25 – esp. those who have a house, a spouse, and a job – it’s going to be a better fit. It’s also going to cost money.
Read literary magazines and start submitting. Get to know what kind of writer you are, which magazines might be open to your work, which magazines you like and why.
Work on your sample. And then work on it some more.
Yes, you have to take the GREs. No big deal. Prepare if you want but your scores are probably not going to keep you out of a good program if you’re a good writer.
Start reading The Writer’s Market, Poets & Writers, etc.
Check out this blog, their handbook, and these articles from the Atlantic Monthly (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200707u/writing-programs, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200708/mfa-programs)
If you write genre work, be it sci-fi/fantasy, children’s lit, etc, look for faculty that work in your genre. Consider contacting writers you really like to see if they might work with you one-on-one before the program.
Attend a writing conference or two in preparation for the MFA program. It’ll help you get a feel for workshops, hanging out with writers, maybe even meet some of your faculty there.
Sort out your schedule – even a low-res program takes up a lot of time. Plan to cut back on your work schedule, hobbies, and time with spouse/children/pets/robots. It’s just a fact – you can’t do everything, and it’s going to be more intense than you think.
You don’t have to get an MFA to be a writer. But it’s a good opportunity to give yourself space and time to write, and get some feedback on your work from people you (hopefully) trust.