Donna: For me, I think that what I learned from an MFA program is really how to read. It's not necessarily so much how to write. I think the biggest part about writing, really, is knowing how to read your own work and knowing when to edit, when to stop editing, what to take out, and really understanding how a reader reads and understands your story. I think that's what I got from an MFA program. By the numerous workshops that I had to take, I heard what other people were saying about my work, what they were looking for. After a certain point, I began to anticipate those things myself. I would look at something that I wrote and ask myself whether somebody else would understand it. What else do I need to say? How much more do I need to explain? Am I explaining too much? That's how I really understood how to pace a story, more by learning how to read it as opposed to really being taught how to write.