Student Profiles
Charles "LC" Fiore
 "On
the television screen, amorphous wisps of green cling to
the
East Coast. Nothing seems threatening. I watch the storm
front stutter-step across the East in time-lapse motion,
laying
out the weather in the hours ahead...."
- from “"A Giant Descending," by Charles
Fiore
For Charles "LC" Fiore, the story, "A Giant
Descending," represents the first time in his studies
at SCS when he thought, "Hey, maybe I can do this!"
The "this" he refers to is succeeding in the
Master of Arts in Creative Writing program. Since that epiphany,
he has been chosen from among 700 entrants as the winner
in WBEZ's prestigious 2004 Stories on Stage contest.
CF: I first drafted that
story in an SCS class I had taken. After beginning work in
the master's program, I set it aside. A year later I
dusted it off and polished the writing, using the tools and
techniques I'd learned in the program, and sent it in.
Q: What's been the toughest part
of your work at SCS?
CF: Disciplining myself
to write everyday and to work hard at what I'm doing.
But that's also one of the most rewarding aspects -
achieving the sort of discipline necessary to make it as a
writer.
Q: Do you want to write once you complete
your studies?
CF: I'd love to
make a living as a novelist, but if that doesn't work
out, I feel that teaching or a career in publishing are options
for me, coming from this program.
Q: What has surprised you the most
about the program?
CF: How it introduces
you to the Chicago writing community. I'm new to Chicago,
but I feel that I now have a circle of friends with whom I
can share my writing even after I've completed my studies
at SCS.
Nina Kutty
 At
one point Nina Kutty was on a seven-year track to become
a
stockbroker. But at 24, she was already "worried about
developing an ulcer." Today, she teaches English composition
on the college level and is completing her work in the MCW
program at SCS.
NK: I'm much happier
now! But when I began my work in this program, I didn't
have a lot of experience writing fiction and I had just begun
teaching. Trying to reconcile academic writing versus fiction
was a challenge at first.
Q: How so?
NK: In a sense, composition
is about learning the proper rules, and fiction is about learning
when and how to break those rules. Both require effective
communication, but academic writing is obviously much more
prescriptive. Fiction allows for a lot more freedom.
Q: What has surprised you most about
this program?
NK: Probably how diligent
the administration has been to make changes and incorporate
student suggestions that improve the program.
Q: How do you challenge yourself when
your task is something as subjective as fiction?
NK: We challenge each
other in class. My peers have a variety of backgrounds and
writing experiences - some are published authors, and
others are new to writing fiction. Also, there are many resources
available at SCS to help take your writing to the next level.
Q: Would you say that the classroom
environment is productive for all students in spite of the
disparity of writing experience?
NK: Absolutely. I feel
very lucky to have worked with the writers who teach in this
program. Writing is such a solitary endeavor, but one of the
wonderful benefits of this program is that it puts you in
a learning environment with students and instructors who are
all working toward similar goals. It connects you with an
instant community of writers!
Adam Pasen
A performer and writer, Adam Pasen majored first in theater
but switched to English and creative writing at the University
of Illinois. His area of concentration in the MCW program
is fiction.
Q:You're only 23, but you've already published
fiction, poetry, and two short plays. How did you manage
that?
AP:I've been lucky. As an undergraduate I won a $1,000
fiction prize; that story was accepted by a literary review.
I even dusted off a one-act comedy I wrote in eighth grade
and submitted it to a publisher; now I get royalties from
it.
Q:How do you deal with rejections?
AP:The MCW publication seminar demystified the process for me.
It's a carpet-bombing campaign: you just keep sending
your work out. I sent poetry to 25 journals and ended up
with 2 acceptances. That means 23 rejections - and
that's not bad.
Q:What are the MCW workshops like?
AP:The quality of the work presented is very high, and we receive
a lot of personal attention. In one workshop I presented
a story I loved, but everyone said it was anticlimactic.
Suddenly I saw the problem. I fixed three lines at the
end, and now it works.
Q:You're planning to finish the MCW program in just
under a year. Why the speed?
AP:I work best under pressure. Working all the time keeps me
organized. That might not be the case for everyone, but the
beauty of the program is that you can personalize it. When
I finish, my next step will be to apply to PhD programs.
Q:What's your capstone project?
AP:I'm working on a novel called SATB, a stream of consciousness
narrative shared by four characters, voices in a show choir.
People look at writing a novel as a huge task, but if you
break it down, it's doable. If I write five pages a
day I'll have a draft in two months.
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