REBOOTING…

Okay, y’all — it’s time for something new.

It’s been a hot minute since I last wrote, and that’s for a few reasons. The big one, Life with a capital L, is typically the biggest thing that gets in the way of my creative goals. Money is another, although I think my biggest obstacle with this project was simply accountability — and maybe a lack of passion.

You see, I started the Highway MFA because I was feeling bitter and sulky, and wanted to turn that negative energy into positive energy. Only, instead of life getting better and my writing thriving, I sank into a terrible income- and pandemic-fueled depression that sucked all the life out of my writing, my creativity, and well — my Life!

This is all to say that I’m rebooting the Highway MFA. From now on, this website will be an account of my writing journey, plus a whole bunch of other goals I’m tacking on: buying and converting a camper van into something I can live in for a year, condensing my life into something I can take on the road, and finding my way out of an unfulfilling marketing career and into a life I’m proud of.

I think where I screwed up last time is by taking on too much all at once. I set myself a much loftier goal (both in word count and reading requirement) than was reasonable while working two full time jobs and trying to stay psychologically afloat in the middle of a pandemic. And when I burned out, I dropped the whole project instead of, I dunno, adjusting my goals to suit my lifestyle and sticking it out.

But hey, depression will do that to you.

And I know I’m not the only twenty-something (or thirty-something, or forty-something) who picked up a hobby project during the pandemic and then abandoned it in a fit of ennui. But I also won’t be the only one to pick that project back up, dust it off, and reimagine it into a sum greater than its parts.

So let’s talk about some new goals…

First, this is called the Highway MFA. A portion I’d thought of when I first started this blog (but was too chicken to commit to) was the idea of hitting the road semi-permanently. In other words, freakin’ #vanlife. Now that I’m officially debt free (oh yeah, that was a major milestone that happened while I was gone), buying and converting a camper van to live in is actually not an impossible goal. Therefore, I’m making it the updated main goal of this project.

Gotta hit the highway in something, right?

Second, the writing. Obviously my goal is to get back to it, and I know I’ve taken the long way around in so many ways. I tried to do Camp NaNoWriMo back in April 2022, and made it 10 days in before I got struck down by COVID and had to abandon that project, too. (I’m fine now, thanks for asking. <3)

I hesitate to set concrete goals, because I don’t want to get overwhelmed. But at the same time, if I don’t set any goals, I have no way of holding myself accountable. The reboot of this project is still in the very, very early stages (am I even going to publish this blog tonight?) so it’s completely fair of me to table that discussion for another time. However, I don’t want this project to be all about convertin’ vans and readin’ books. The “MFA” portion of the title matters, too.

So, suffice to say, “More on that later.”

Third, an education! A traditional MFA program focuses on other writers’ work as much as your own, so I want to get back to intentional reading. That doesn’t mean I’ll wean myself off the latest Liane Moriarty, just that I’ll be shelving my beach reads alongside BIPOC authors, trippy memoirs, and nonfiction books about apiary — and I think I finally have to read Walden (UGH).

God, I have such beef with Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I felt like my “book reports” were a bit lacking the last time around. Although, upon rereading all of my old posts, the early ones were pretty fun and detailed.

Maybe I’ll look into sample “packets” from traditional/low-residency MFA programs to get an idea of the structure of the academic writing side of things. I felt like I was just blathering about what I read so I could check off a box as quickly as possible and get back to the impossibly long reading list I set for myself in 30 days. (Lookin’ at you, A Little Life.)

So, the changes I’m making: shorter reading lists (thank Grohl), more detailed “book reports” (how so, I’m not sure), more books on craft (one of these days I’ll finish Bird by Bird instead of letting it make me guilty), and maybe signing up for a few academic-y (that’s a word now) literary journals and peer-reviewed book reviewers (those are a thing, right?) to get a better idea of what I should actually be getting out of all this reading (beyond the desire to live a cottagecore wet dream in Melbourne).

Do you think I used enough parentheses in the last paragraph?

I can’t remember if anyone signed up for alerts on this blog, so it’ll be pretty funny if you get a ping from this defunct website at 1am Eastern. I just got back from a lovely but emotionally exhausting trip to Maryland with my parents. I’m currently hunkered at their place in St. Augustine, Florida, preparing to officially make the jump to Maryland on July 15th.

I’ve promised two years to Maryland, during which I plan on buying and converting a camper van. I’m hoping to have a significant down payment ready to launch in January of 2023 (realistically, more like May 2023, but potato potahto). I want to do all the conversion myself, with the exception of electrical and plumbing projects — I’d rather trust a professional with that instead of blowing thousands of dollars on shoddy work that will fall apart the second I hit a rock in Montana.

Ooh, just thought of another thing to talk about here: intended destinations. We all know I’m going to land in Montana for a good long time once I get a camper van up and running, and I’m excited for those days for sure. But I’m reading Nomadland right now and it’s got me all jazzed up about getting back to the desert, and also about sneaking my way into Mexico and Canada someday.

The real question is whether I can stand sleeping without AC, but after surviving 106+ degrees at Bonnaroo ‘22, I feel like I can survive anything. (So long as I have a carbon monoxide alarm.)

Anyway, I’ve blathered long enough for one night, and it’s already 12:45 am. So, to bed with me (actually, to Nomadland for a little longer — I’m still pretty wired from the plane). Tomorrow, I’ll start thinking about actual goals and quantifiable metrics to set for the project reboot.

Let the Highway MFA Reboot COMMENCE!

(Well, not really. I’ve got a lot of planning to do still. Let’s call this The Highway MFA v. 1.5)

Til next time,
Mags