Writing and Motherhood

The Wall Street Journal’s weekend review section often has a short article called “Word Craft” written by various writers. I enjoy hearing sage advice about creating vibrant dialogue or researching a novel. This week’s column, however, hit a particularly lovely cord with me, and so I decided to share it. Ann Brashares, the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants describes in her column “Creating a New ‘Pants’–And a New Baby” how writing a novel is remarkably like gestating and launching a baby. She has made this connection because she was pregnant when she wrote her first Sisterhood book and now that she is working on a follow up to that one, she’s pregnant again at 43. I count it among my blessings that I am not, definitely not, pregnant while writing my book, but her language describing the creative process struck me as utterly true and right. And her joy in being a mom again is pretty heartwarming. Happy Mother’s Day a bit late!