Writerly Roundup

When have you felt consumed or trapped by the daily demands of your world? How do you free yourself so you have space, time, and energy to write?

Of your child(ren)’s developmental milestones, which one took you most by most surprise? Did you reflect on your own role in this event? Did you take credit or simply marvel…

What secrets has your mother shared with you? If you looked in her magic mirror, who would you see?

What memories would you piece together if you wrote a narrative of your father? Would it be a journey of smells, sounds, gestures, expressions, or a combination?

In this month’s essay, Jeanine DeHoney vividly recalls the habits of the woman she called “Evelyn” but lovingly referred to as “mom.” She writes, “I wrote about the bright red…

Before children, what fantasies did you construct about childbirth and parenting? How did you come to terms with the disparity between your dreams and reality?

Where has technology intersected with your parenting? Has technology impacted your child’s literary experience? Where does the value of books and electronic media rank in your household? Why?

Are there foibles from your past that have become family legends? Have they sprouted exaggerated details like leafy tree branches, or do they remain anchored in family lore as a…

How do you carve out much-needed personal time, away from daily responsibilities? What activities do you turn to during those private moments?

If you could live in anyone’s life, whose would it be? What would your slice of life look like?

In this month’s essay, Confessions of a Groupie, Sarah Raleigh Kilts narrates a journey she’s taken with The Motherlode, a Berkeley-based mothers’ writing group. They “have been like lifeguards through…