If your New Year’s resolution is to write more, the esteemed faculty of Butler’s MFA has advice for you.
Hilene Flanzbaum – Professor, MFA Program Director
Routine is everything. Decide when and where you will write and let nothing keep you from establishing and maintaining said routine. Nothing.
Dan Barden- Professor
Start today.
Ben Winters- Continuing Instructor
Stop worrying about word counts and instead think about time: not “how much did I write today?” but “for how long was I engaged in the project of writing today?” Set definitive goals — be it a half hour, an hour, or four hours — and strive nobly to meet them. The word count will take care of itself.
Chris Forhan- Associate Professor
I once heard the poet Steve Orlen exclaim, “I’m writing more than ever! It’s no wonder: I’ve begun a new practice of ignoring my email until I’m done writing for the day.” My advice: turn off the technology. Turn away from the screen and toward the window. And toward yourself: pay attention not to social media but to the unsocial medium of your own mind, of yourself whispering secrets to yourself.