Allison K. Williams's Blog, page 2

Writing from the Wound: Leaving Room for Raw Urgency

By Molly Akin

The advice is passed down like scripture: write from the scar, not the wound. Let the trauma settle before you place it on the page.

What happens, however, when we consider an alternative? What if dipping into the well of our wounds––before they are healed, or even scabbed over––could be generative, curative, honest?

As much as it is a comfort to imagine, there isn’t a future where the experiences that make up a life can be held at true distance. Death, illness, and oth...

On Reading as a Writer: A Brevity Blog Round Up

By Andrea A. Firth

One of the gifts I gained from grad school* was learning how to read as a writer. I was immediately captivated and inspired by the iconic creative nonfiction writers we read: Brenda Miller, Bernard Cooper, Roxane Gay, Adrienne Rich, John McPhee—the list goes on and on. The discussions in craft classes showed me how to identify the art and craft at work in their writing. Add to that, weekly workshops in which we looked for the craft at work in our own writing and opportun...

Please Subscribe: My $40K+ Journey to Zero Followers

By Ravi Bhaskar

Don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe!

God, how I hate that line. Every time I hear it, I immediately close the tab and flee to someone with more dignity.

So when I launched my blog, I swore I’d never beg. Classy or die! My sign-off: If you liked this, please tell a few friends. Only if you have friends. Subtle. Witty. A masterclass in restraint. Surely, this would set me apart from the everyday influencers and usher in subscribers by the thousands.

Nope. Rea...

Tales of Motherhood, Forgetfulness, and the Ache of Solitude: Brevity’s Fall 2025 Issue

Brevity literary magazine celebrates its 80th issue with essays exploring the hawk outside a hospital window, the mathematic of decay, egg and parsley fritters, other people’s mothers, and more arresting moments from twelve amazing writers:

Steven Church, Marji Alonso, Jeremy T. Wattles, Molly Akin, Heather Shaw, Richard Robbins, Toni Judnitch, Dana Wall, Heather Kindree Thomas, Sue Fagalde Lick, Julia Hou, and Lori White.

These crisp new flash essays are accompanied by the stunning wa...

On Proofing (And Not Over-Proofing)

By Cindy Sams

Not long ago — just last month, in fact — I sent a piece to a well-respected Southern lit mag with the line “drunk as fiddler’s bitches” in the story. After acceptance, the editor marked it, wondering if I meant “britches.”

Mortified, I panicked. How had I missed something so obvious? My face burned. Surely every editor in the country had now seen me with my writerly pants around my ankles.

Except this time, the word wasn’t wrong.

I’m a journalist by training with a ...

What Elizabeth Gilbert Gets Right About Telling the Hardest Truths

By Rebecca Morrison

I met Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the blockbuster Eat, Pray, Love, at a book event in DC last year. It wasn’t one of those quick “hello, sign my book” interactions. I arrived early, and there she was, this superstar literary figure wearing a cozy white sweater and holding her pink knit hat. She was paying for a bottle of water at the concession counter when I walked up to her.

“Hi, I’m Rebecca. I loved your book, Big Magic,” I said, sputtering out the words.

...

My Writer’s Statement, Then and Now

By Michele Cantos Garcia

When I was still a new writer searching for my voice at writing workshops, I was overcome with a conviction that I should apply to artist retreats and fellowships. Earning these opportunities, I thought, would make me a real writer.

Time makes fools of us all, however, and I was rejected from each opportunity expeditiously. And with reason, as I barely had enough writing samples—unpolished, of course—for the applications. My letters of recommendation were prepar...

Best Beginnings

By Beth Kephart

Years ago—in an entirely different century—I sat in the back of a room in a steadfast stone building in the Italian hill town Spoleto, listening to Rosellen Brown and Reginald Gibbons explain what a story is. I took feverish notes in my black faux-leather journal. I wrote all the words down so that I might never forget them, so that I might become a writer after all.

The words are still where I put them. I open the journal and there they are, right up front. Rosellen Bro...

Let the Words Ebb and Flow

By Shiwani Dhiman

My writing journey began when I was three. I couldn’t write words yet, but I still felt the need to put my day on paper, like brushing my teeth or drinking water. I drew clumsy flowers and awkward sketches of things I saw. My mother laughed at how uneven they looked, but to me, this was a way to hold onto what had touched me throughout the day. Later, when I finally learned to write words in Hindi, my mother language, I filled the back pages of my school notebooks with sc...

The Player’s Box

By Julia F. Green

In the last years of Serena Williams’ career as a professional tennis player, I realized I’d been making a huge mistake as a writer.

Serena is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. I watched her for decades admiring her unrivaled strength and accuracy. For years, I believed her status as a champion was due to her innate ability. She was simply better than everyone else on the court.

I applied this misguided logic to writing, assuming those who succeeded we...