So... Last year, I applied to graduate MFA programs in Creative Writing. Considering the fact that I'm still here and you're reading this, it's more than obvious that I didn't get into any of them. I've been reassured more than once that the process can be difficult, that entrance committees can be fickle at best, that not getting in doesn't mean that one is a bad writer. Needless to say, it was an ego blow. More than I'd like to admit.

So much of an ego blow, in fact, that aside from this column, I more or less stopped writing completely. Writing, for me, was much more than a hobby. Whatever activity you love doing, whether it be playing music or working out or reading or cooking or whatever - that's the feeling I had when I was writing. Writing has always felt very natural and it's been in my life since I was learning to form letters on pieces of paper. It's incredibly therapeutic and, through my experiences as a creative writing major at Butler, I was able to understand the benefits of workshopping one's work. Writing workshops are invaluable in improving a writer's work.

I suppose that was the main reason I applied to all of those MFA programs - and why I applied to MFA programs again this year. I have no idea if I've gotten into any of them yet, but I will say I'll be a little disappointed if I get in - almost the opposite of last year when they all rejected me. I feel as if, when I applied the second time around, it was for all of the right reasons, but I now think that there are things in Indianapolis that I'm not willing to leave yet - things that, if I experience them, will only improve whatever writing I partake in.

The reasons I applied to grad schools were for the workshops - for sharing my work and getting critiques and criticisms - and for being able to read the work of my peers. I have studied with some incredibly talented people who've already gone on to get published - I'm proud to say I studied with them.

I guess I realized, though, after figuring out I'm not ready to leave quite yet, that I don't need a grad school to have a workshop. Sure, if you go to grad school, you can study with professors who are respected, published, blah blah blah, but I can have a workshop here, can't I?

The purpose of this particular column is to call out all the writers who don't know where to go; who can't afford an MFA, who got their degrees in something practical, who didn't get degrees at all but somehow manage to find at least 10 minutes a day to write. I don't care if you write poetry, prose, creative essays, epic poems. I don't care if it's sci-fi, fantasy, fiction, or your biography.

Frankly, I need you.

If you're interested in a completely free writing workshop, send me an email. I only want serious people with thick skins - because my friends and I will be harsh and critical in an effort for you to improve. And likewise with me - I yearn for some criticism here, for someone to tell me that line was a little vague and needs work or my metaphors are cliché. I don't care how old you are, what color you are, what you do for a living, what your sexual orientation is - I just need a group of people who desperately want someone to read their stuff. If that sounds like you, please, for God's sake, send me an email.

Please.