(Other) Writers on Writng

Long before I even considered writing memoir, I stumbled upon Dani Shapiro’s book Devotion: A Memoir and I couldn’t put it down. She writes with such honesty as she explores her relationship with her son and husband – I finished the book in a day and still felt hungry for more. Luckily, I came across her blog “Moments of Being” and was able to get my fix. Although she doesn’t post as often as I’d like, she uses her blog to explore her writing process. I find is really comforting that someone with numerous books and awards feels some of the same things that I do. Lately, I’m really battling with what it means to be a writer. I’m really struggling with the concept of a “writers work,” and I am fighting to give myself permission to be a writer – even if that means I never get published or paid of the work that I do. Anyway, it is becoming more obvious to me that I need to rekindle my passion for writing. Dani’s latest blog post gave voice to some of the feelings that exist inside of me. She writes:

“Every single day, the writer begins again.  When we wake up in the morning, when we roll out of bed, brush our teeth, splash our faces with cold water, make the coffee, the toast, pack the sandwiches into lunch boxes, bundle our children off to school with the proper mittens and hats and sports attire and homework, when we wash the dishes, make the beds, answer the emails, walk the dogs––until the moment when we finally sit down at our desks, we are preparing to begin again.  We may be halfway through a novel, an essay, a story, a memoir.  We may be nearing the finish line on a piece of work that has taken us years.  We may, in fact, be attempting to start something new.  But wherever we are within our work, we have never been exactly here, today…read more”