Megan Harlan: “Write as if You’re Never Going to Show It to Anyone”

Go for it anyway

Wake Up and Write is an advice column from Moms Don’t Have Time to Write. Today, we have Megan Harlan— award-winning essayist, poet, and author of Mobile Home: A Memoir in Essays— who shared writing advice on the podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, hosted by Zibby Owens.

“The best advice I wish I had had a long time ago is to write the pieces as if you’re never going to show them to anyone.”

“This is also one of those obvious pieces of advice that I feel like I did hear many years ago. Write for yourself. Write not even because you’re afraid to spill the skeletons from the closet, but just because you want to write the piece. There’s some subject you’re fascinated with, you suspect maybe other people may not be, but go for it anyway.

See what happens. I just think having that freedom is the key to really doing creative work.”

Listen to the episode:

https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/meganharlan

Buy the book:

https://bookshop.org/books/mobile-home-a-memoir-in-essays/9780820357928