As you may have read in the first installment of the Eliza Tudor Survival Guide to bridge the worlds of MFA-candidate and MFA-wielding god/goddess, Lit Mags are the Wheaties that can power a writer. Next on the list . . .
2. SUBMIT
Start submitting work before you finish the program. Not only will you prove to your partner/spouse/children/parents that you actually do something, you’ll also prove it to yourself. Sure, you’re going to submit work before you’re ready, but that is okay. Keep submitting work. New work. Re-revised work. Whatever. Work on it, make it the best you can, have more than one piece going out, and GO. Keep a running guide of where you are submitting and the answer (much easier now with online submissions and your favorite spreadsheet program). Thumbs up or ding, whatever. Be professional about it: keep track, write thank you notes, be nice. This is your job. Also set yourself a set amount of submissions per week or month and hit it. You’ll look back sometimes and think, “Okay, I NEVER should have sent that out.” But really, who cares. Do it! Do it again! Writers write. They revise. They submit. They get rejections. They move on. They keep working.
Eliza Tudor is a writer in Silicon Valley. She received her MFA from Butler University. Her work has most recently been published in PANK and Hobart.
Beth Bates 