New Year, New Semester

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a good winter break. This is a blog about new beginnings, about New Year's resolutions, about choices you will need to make as MFA students...

First things first. Did you write over break? If you did, wonderful(!) - now you have more material to work with. If you didn't (well, and even if you did write), what experiences did you have over break that you can bring into your work? Start taking notes now so that you'll have access to all those vivid, specific details associated with the present tense (or at least not-so-past-tense).

You should (hopefully) be registered for classes. Remember that as MFA students, you will take 21 credits of workshops, ENG 6009: "Principles and Problems of Literary Study," 18 credit hours of literature and/or theory classes (just fyi, for MFA students, ENC 6700 does count as one of these classes. The colloquium does not), and six thesis hours. Wherever you are in your progress through the degree, be thinking about which books have most deeply influenced you. Consider which professors you'd like to work most closely with for your thesis. Think about which stories/poems/essays you can bring in to your thesis project.

Did you make a New Year's Resolution? If not, why not choose one from my list below? Any of these would be great resolutions for writers:

1. Start a writing group and meet at least once a month to discuss each other's work.
2. Read at least one book (that is not assigned by a professor) a month.
3. Go on a trip and take notes on it. Somehow work this experience in to an essay, memoir, poem, story, or novel.
4. Begin a blog. It will help if you choose a topic  - this will narrow your focus.
5. Compose a piece of creative writing in collaboration with one or more of your peers.

Okay! I am also looking for more contributors to the blog. Please send me an email if you're interested in writing something. I can give you a specific prompt if you'd like. Also, email me to set up an appointment. For anyone applying to the program, the application deadline for Fall 2014 is January 15th!



MR Sheffield is FAU's English Graduate Advisor. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Pank, Epiphany, Spring Gun and other publications. You can reach her at: msheffi3@fau.edu.

Advice for Second-Year MFA Students

You’ve been hearing whispers about the Plan of Study and you’re perplexed, concerned. What could a Plan of Study be, and why do you need one when you’re about 18 credits into the program?

Well, my friends, a Plan of Study is your contract with the English Department and the Graduate College; it says that no one can change your degree program, and hey, it’s required! But don’t fret, I think too often we hear the word “requirement” and a shiver starts somewhere near the backs of our knees and travels all the way up our bodies; yes, collectively we are somewhat alarmed, I think, by forms and deadlines, but we need not be. 

On the Plan of Study you’ll list the classes you’ve taken and the classes you will take. You’ll state the fact that you are a thesis student. If you have spoken to your committee members and they have agreed to be on your committee, you’ll list them on this form.

For your thesis, you will work with three committee members. Your committee chair will give you the most feedback; s/he (this is, I know, an awkward grammatical construction, but it’s my favorite of the gender neutral) will work closest with you on deadlines, requirements, and revisions of your thesis project.  

You should be thinking about this now, actually, second year MFAer! Who do you want to chair your committee? Who really gets you as a writer? It’s good advice to approach a CRW professor in whose class you received an ‘A.’

The other committee members will offer valuable feedback as well. Think now, while you’re in workshops, about who you’d like to have critiquing your work, about who you want to be present for your thesis defense.

Fully immerse yourself in the program. Attend lectures and events. Ask questions. Read literary journals to see what is published where. Talk to your peers and professors about writing. Establish a writing routine. Form a writing group with your peers. Play Exquisite Corpse together (not for any particular reason - really I just think it’s fun).

Remember, for the MFA degree you’ll take 21 hours of workshops, 18 hours of lit/theory classes, one required course (ENG 6009: Principles and Problems of Literary Study), and six thesis hours (see the advising checklist).

So, second year, are we clear? Make an appointment with me to complete the Plan of Study. Think about who you’d like to work with as your committee. Get involved in the writing culture and community. Look at your writing and think about what kind of thesis you’re going to create. What shape will it take? Why? How? 

Now is the time to ensure you’re taking classes that will assist in your thesis work. Allow your literature/theory courses to inspire you as well. Take in everything, take notes, and allow your work to grow like a passiflora vine; tend it so that it may bear fruit.

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M.R. Sheffield is an instructor and the English Graduate Advisor at FAU. Contact her at msheffi3@fau.edu. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in the Florida Review, Blip Magazine, Fiction Southeast, Pank, and other publications. She received her MFA in fiction from FAU. And her cat keeps a blog.

An English Graduate Advisor’s 12 bullet points of advice for first year MFA students

1)    It’s normal to feel intimidated your first semester.  You’re here to learn, and you will, so try to relax into that process. Most things hurt less if you stop clenching your muscles.

2)    For the love of everything that is wonderful in this world, meet with your advisor the first semester of classes. I mean me, you know; I can talk to you about classes, expectations, what a thesis committee is, and when you should be thinking about completing a Plan of Study. Lots of relevant, helpful info here, promise (I feel like I’ve earned this exclamation point)!

3)    Get to know the other MFA students. Ask them questions about the program, classes they’ve taken, and the thesis process. Graduate school isn’t the time to be shy.

4)    For real though, about being shy? The more you participate in class discussion (well, as long as it’s thoughtful), the more you’ll get out of classes. This is a lesson I learned a bit late, as I’ve always been something an introvert. So learn from me - speak up.

5)    Once you’ve started talking to and hanging out with all the other MFA students, form a writing group. Send each other work a couple times a month. Get together to discuss it. This is the kind of thing that can continue once you’re out of school (it did for me).

6)    Join EGSS. This is a good way to meet those other Grad students I’ve been talking about.

7)    Take classes with as many creative writing professors as possible. Get to know the department.  This will come in handy when you’re forming your thesis committee - you’ll know who you’d like to work with and why.

8)    Consider taking classes outside of your chosen genre - writing in other genres is like stretching out before intense exercise; you will bring those skills (flexibility?) back to your work.

9)    Take the Sanders’ Writer in Residence workshop every spring semester. These workshops are invaluable opportunities to work with writers you might not otherwise have ever even met.

10)    Work with Coastlines. Consider submitting to literary journals. Read as many literary journals as you can to see what is published where. This will help you find a journal to send your own work  once it’s ready.

11)    Join AWP and read the Writer’s Chronicle. Poets & Writers is another good source. Stay up to date with current events in the Creative Writing realm (a beauteous place to be, isn’t it?). “Like” the MFA page on Facebook.

12)    When you’re overwhelmed, exasperated, frustrated, and otherwise feeling uncomfortable, remember that this is your time to write; you might not have another opportunity to dedicate three years to bettering your work. Use this time up. Squeeze out every drop. Devote yourself to creative work. Although you are taking literature classes and maybe even GTA-ing, your writing needs to come first; nourish it.



Mary Sheffield is an instructor and the English Graduate Advisor at FAU. Contact her at msheffi3@fau.edu. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in the Florida Review, Blip Magazine, Fiction Southeast, Spring Gun, and other publications. She received her MFA in fiction from FAU. And her cat keeps a blog.