James Yeh

The Incredible Self-Cleaning Oven, or: Making a Life as a Writer

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

James Yeh

“You can make a life as a writer without making a living as a writer,” sci-fi master Ted Chiang suggests, quoting his friend Andy Duncan. This candid and pragmatic seminar aims to uncover the many ways that a life in and around writing can be possible. With an eye toward practicality and application, we will examine recommendations for best practices on writing and craft from celebrated writers like Lydia Davis and Sigrid Nunez, as well as examples at the New Yorker. Then we will have a short presentation of tips and strategies for pitching and publishing that seeks to highlight new and accessible entry points into the worlds of publishing, media, and academia, where many writers work, wearing multiple hats. Finally, students will have ample opportunity to ask questions and engage in a lively dialogue around life after the MFA.

On the topic of making one’s own post-MFA life, there’s a term they have at the New Yorker for certain writers: “self-cleaning ovens.” Top editor—and accomplished writer and journalist—David Remnick is, reportedly, one of these. “Alert to flaws,” “a breeze to work with,” the incredible self-cleaning oven is a literary appliance par excellence. This seminar seeks to nudge all of us a little closer to that writerly ideal: tidy, self-sufficient, and, yes, even employable.

Required Reading (in Reader):

Davis, Lydia. “Thirty Recommendations for Good Writing Habits.” Essays One, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019, pp. 226–262.

Tripathi, Amrita. “Inside the New Yorker.” Open Magazine, 3 Dec. 2012. Accessed 6 April 2023. 

Available online at: https://openthemagazine.com/features/world/inside-the-new-yorker/.

Required Viewing:

Nunez, Sigrid. “Craft Conversation: Sigrid Nunez.” Facebook, uploaded by The Loft Literary Center, 1 Oct. 2021, 8:00 p.m., min. 3:11–19:30. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Available online at:  https://www.facebook.com/TheLoftLiteraryCenter/videos/396126548625282/.