Not much, regretfully. In terms of a final project, my school requires only 60 pages, either of a memoir, short story collection, or novella. That 60-page figure is a MAX number of pages. It used to be that you had to submit a full novel or a complete (approximately 200 page) short story collection in order to have a shot in hell at getting a Master's. But these days, with budget cuts and hiring freezes, the university staff just don't have the time to read 200-page books from all of us.
So we get 60 pages. Max.
What the heck is wrong with an educational system that gives people a Master's degree for 60 pages of crappy fiction? Or memoir? It's embarrassing. Granted, I don't have a literary novel lying around that I could use in order to graduate. (A romance, a spy thriller, a mystery, and a vampire historical--yes, I have those!) If my school had real standards, I'd have had to finish the literary mystery I started last summer. I would have had to follow it through instead of letting it rot on my computer, untouched since August.
In a way, I want that push. Instead of turning in 60 pages of random short stories, I would have had to work harder on what a fiction writer is supposed to do--write books. Short stories are fun to write, but they're also easy on the relative scale of fiction writing. Just because you can do it several times in a row doesn't mean you deserve a Master's. How many of us had to write short stories in high school or our undergraduate careers? My guess is a lot. So how is doing more of that supposed to merit an advanced degree?
I shouldn't be complaining. Next semester, I will turn in my 60-page collection of short stories and hopefully get my Master's degree. But part of me wishes that school had given me the kick in the ass I need to finish the one that got away.
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