Writers, as you know from the first four installments of the Eliza Tudor Survival Guide to Bridge the Worlds of MFA-Candidate and MFA-Wielding God/Goddess so graciously offered by Butler MFA-wielding goddess Eliza Tudor [this is the summary part with links to the brilliant Tudor tips you missed the first time]:
- Lit Mags fuel a writer
- Writers submit their work
- Writers write
- Writers friend and poke, and they make pipe-cleaner puppets.
I trust you’ve benefited from the series and leave you now with Ms. Tudor’s final nuggets of wisdom from beyond the MFA . . .
6. MOVE
I think writers should try and fit in a little exercise every day. It’s a sanity thing. If only Virginia Woolf had done yoga. It’s hard—especially for writers. You think, “I could be spending this time working” (especially if you only have a few minutes to fit everything in). After I finished the program, I dusted off the yoga mat, I started running more, and it helped. It’s time to think or not think. And, if Murakami does it, it has to be good.
7. FORGET ABOUT IT
Stop thinking about others as competition. It’s hard sometimes to ignore what others are doing, but nobody’s path is the same.
- Do your work.
- Challenge yourself.
- Try as hard as you can not to look over your shoulder.
- This is the perfect time to take some new risks in your writing.
- Ignore the crowd.
- Applaud others.
- Do what excites you.
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 and is scheduled to appear in Annalemma Issue 8.
Thank you, Eliza, for your generosity and for giving us something to hold onto as we press on toward the goal. xo, BB
Beth Bates 