“You learn that writing is about discipline. Not the punitive
discipline. Not solitary confinement. Not whips of mea culpa, twisted
Catholic guilt. You are not a masochist. A writer’s discipline is about
the return. About coming to the page, the computer, even when you
have nothing to say, when you are stuck. You are stuck so often. But
you return. As a Woman of Color you know that writing is not about
having a room of your own or an entire day. It is about returning to
the brief moments in between office hours, before class, prior to a
meeting. Carving out spaces in between the moments that matter.
There is so much matter—the density of people, priorities, protests.
You slice chaotic spaces into small segments of solitude. Writing
requires an isolation, which first terrifies you. Now you crave it.”
—Jessica Lopez Lyman, How Dare We! Write a multicultural creative writing discourse
