I encourage my students to write everyday. My assignments begin with freewrites, discussion boards, blog posts, letters… This is with the hope something interesting/ important/ personal will take shape. My goal is for them to become more comfortable with the writing process. I want them to create their own voice – something that I certainly didn’t have at their age.

Below I share my most recent blog post about one of my favorite writers, Mary Gaitskill. I recently re-read her collection of short stories, Bad Behavior. She says she has the fundamental need to write every day. It’s not to entertain her readers. It’s to connect with herself. Much of what she writes comes from her own tragedy and pain. "It's strange," she says, "because much of what I write about doesn't seem loving. But to write it makes me feel love."