“When my writing stalls, it usually means that there is something that I need to write that I’ve chosen to avoid. I’ll do all the writerly things that one does in the thick of avoidance—read widely within and beyond my topic; indulge in craft books and actually do the exercises; go for walks with Audible on; listen to MasterClass lectures that are tangential to my topic; collage; phone a friend; search for unaffordable, beachfront real estate; have solo dance parties with my disco ball; practice piano; prune my petunias; clean out the vegetable bin; and there you have it. But what works the best for me, without fail, is to create a very scary mind map of what I definitely do not want to mention, and then methodically address each one of those boulders on my classroom-sized, erasable whiteboard, assuring myself that no one will ever see these things until I’ve cleared a path for my brave, courageous self to honor herself and her truest intention.”
—Jacqueline Jones LaMon, author of What Water Knows (TriQuarterly Books, 2021)
Photo credit: Winter LaMon