Navigating the Writing Life After Your MFA

by Michaela J. Lawlor

Writing is hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

I’ve heard this quote millions of times, but I cannot say I know who the original author is.

The same thing can be said about Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs, but allow me to rephrase it a bit:

“Completing your MFA is hard. If it were easy, every writer would do it.”

So, if you’ve been there and done that, congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the back. You did it! And it is no small feat.

I received my MFA in December of 2021, so I’m still sort of fresh out of the gate — war torn and battle scarred. It was a doozy.

I attended Western Connecticut State University’s low-residency MFA in Creative and Professional Writing. I decided to go for my MFA in Writing because writing has always been part of my life. It is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, and now, it’s blossomed into a wonderful career.

I originally wasn’t planning to go back to school, but I had met the MFA coordinator at WCSU who really sold me on the program. I loved the fact that it was low-residency, the one-on-one mentor approach, and the focus on both creative and professional genres. I felt it would allow me to write in all my areas of interests, and that it did.

 I took the fast track and completed my MFA in two years by going to school full time, though I wish I had paced myself and gone part-time to finish in four years. Hindsight is 20/20!

Completing my MFA took a ton of energy out of me, especially since I began my program in January 2020 (yeah, during the apocalypse) and for a period afterward, I didn’t want to write anything at all. I felt like I blacked out.

Did I just do that? Did I really just write an entire MFA thesis?

I remember feeling a wave of imposter syndrome. Even though I completed this great feat of writing — my feature screenplay — I immediately started to talk down to myself.

Sure, you wrote it…but it sucks. And you haven’t written anything else since then, fraud.

My internal critic nagged at me incessantly in the months following my MFA. I was exhausted. I wondered when I would put words on the page again. I’m so grateful that I’ve overcome that slump and become more productive with my writing. I had to remind myself that I just went through the grueling process of graduate school, so I came to terms with the space I gave myself from my writing.

Keyword, gave.

It’s important to allow yourself the gift of time and space. It’s easy to get burnt out if you’re firing on all cylinders all the time. Since that post-MFA slump, I found my way back to my writing and I feel more excited than ever about the projects I’m working on.

Here are a few things I have found helpful while navigating this post-MFA writing life:

• Find your people.

Community is everything. It’s important to find trusted friends and peers in the #WritingCommunity who share your values for the craft, love, and practice of writing. Have meaningful conversations. Start a book club. Form a small writing group where you can exchange writing and give feedback. Writing friends are a fantastic support system.

• Go to writing workshops.

Writing workshops can be a great way to feel jazzed about writing. Attending a workshop — whether it’s in person, online, free, or paid — can be a great way to spark imagination. The speaker may offer up some new ideas and approaches to writing to help you reframe your thinking if you feel like you’re in a rut.

• Do something other than writing that enriches you.

For me, exercise it what does the trick —  a long bike ride or hike, usually. Enriching experiences are so important for sparking creativity. They can be found anywhere, and you may have to try a few things to find what clicks: crafts, travel, cooking, birdwatching, learning a language or a new skill. Whatever it is, take notes of how you feel when you engage in your other hobbies.

• Keep a journal.

Journals are a great way to decompress. You can be totally lax — just word vomit onto the page. How was your day? How did you feel today? What did you accomplish? Sometimes, getting out those “superficial” or “mundane” thoughts and feelings can unclog the pores of your more serious writing endeavors. It’s like taking a deep breath and letting go of tension. So Zen.

• Take a break and don’t beat yourself up for it.

This one is self-explanatory (and in my opinion one of the most important). Not everyone is built to write every day and that is completely fine. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so if it’s not there, don’t try to force it. Stepping away can be the greatest gift to yourself and your sanity sometimes. When you come back, you’ll likely feel refreshed and can think more clearly.

I hope you find these tips helpful and maybe they’ll help you gain a new perspective on how to approach your writing if you’re ever feeling stuck. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what strategies have worked for you after your MFA. Good luck in all your writing adventures. You got this!

Michaela J. Lawlor received her MFA in Creative and Professional Writing from Western Connecticut State University where she studied screenwriting and journalism. She’s currently working as a freelance writer and is writing a novel. When she’s not writing, Michaela is an avid mountain/gravel biker and bikepacker and serves on the board of the Fairfield County chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association. Michaela can be found on Instagram and TikTok @michaelajlawlor.