Type. Think. Type again. Delete, delete, delete. Type. Delete, delete, delete. Ask “Why am I even doing this?” Fold laundry. Take a walk. Have a brilliant idea. Forget the brilliant idea. Take a shower. Remember the brilliant idea. Type, type. Delete. Go to bed. Eight hours later– Take a sip of tea. Read yesterday’s words. […]
My youngest, who is almost nine, sits at the kitchen table with her math notebook, working on multiplication tables. I sit beside her, my hands wrapped tightly around a warm mug of tea, waiting for her to ask for help. She can do most of her assignments on her own, but feels more confident with […]
Once upon a time, I wrote for two hours a day. I woke up before the sun and worked on a manuscript while my coffee was hot and my brain was firing on, filling my mornings with my favorite thing to do before heading in for work. These are not those days. Today I still […]
If you’re like me, typing is faster than writing by hand. Often I get stuck staring at a blinking cursor. Recently, I discovered a trick to get the words flowing. Print the piece you’re working on. Close the computer. Find a notebook and pen. Let your mind wander on the page. Write for ten minutes. Don’t […]
I always advise students to be wary of workshopping a poem like a checklist. Still, there are keys to a successful poem: arresting images, attention to metaphorical and sensual language, a wariness of abstraction, an awareness of sound and form, effective line breaks and an unpredictable ending. But what writers of poetry often overlook is […]
Observe. Listen. There is value in every writer’s words, seasoned or novice. There aren’t stupid questions so ask them. Knowledge equals growth. Act on the afforded understanding, follow the path, and seize the opportunities even if they differ from your vision. Be humble. Accept all work offered because it leads to more opportunities. Write at […]
When I struggle with writing, I say to myself: write from where you are. It’s a reminder to accept where I am in my writing life and let go of frustration over not being somewhere — or someone — else. When you feel the same way, think about where you are and be there. Feeling […]
A friend recently asked me how to make disjointed memories come together when writing about her grandmother, who died when my friend was twenty. “What question are you trying to answer about your grandmother?” I asked. When crafting creative nonfiction, it’s common to begin with vivid glimpses of memory that compel us to the page. […]
Take a digital writing detox every so often. Using pen and paper forces you to slow down, to consider the words you are using. It’s an act of mindfulness in our busy, instant, electronic world—no distracting notifications jump from a page. Pen and paper are markers of time, memory makers and re-connectors. Remember how they […]
~Brianna Avenia-Tapper, Profiles Editor Brianna Avenia-Tapper is a writer and mom passionate about bringing caregiving-focused art to a broad audience. She has published personal essays in MuthaMagazine and Pigeon Pages, and is currently seeking representation for her hybrid memoir, Deciduata. Formerly a teacher in the US, Russia, and Kazakhstan, she lives in NYC with her family.
“Try to recapture that childlike state, when you wrote just for the sake of it, without concern for whether anyone outside of yourself will like it, publish it, or favorably review it. Write down every little idea that comes to you, no matter how silly it may seem, even if you don’t know what you […]