Megan Margulies: Writing with Urgency

How did motherhood change your creative practice?

I actually just wrote an essay for Vogue.com about this very idea. I never really thought too deeply about the connection of having my first child and my writing life, but after hearing a few other mother writers mention that they started their career during the postpartum months I had a sort of epiphany. I always wanted to be a writer, but never had the urgency to dive head first into it. I got my MFA in creative nonfiction, but then got sucked into my 9-5 job, dating, hanging out with friends, and all the stuff you get to fill your time with before motherhood. After getting married and having my first kid I realized it was a “now or never” moment. Motherhood slapped me in the face with urgency, and it was exactly the tough love that I needed.

When do you feel most creative?

I always say that I have my best ideas in the shower (maybe because I’m finally alone?), but the actual act of writing comes when I have a deadline or know that my writing time is dwindling. I need a fire under my rear end basically.

What do you do when you feel burnt out or filled with doubt?

I go to my writing buddies. These are the people who understand the business and the struggle of being a creative person. Aileen Weintraub and I co-founded an editing and consulting service for writers called The Witches of Pitches, and one of our favorite services is the Kvetch Session. Sometime writers need an edit, and sometimes they just need to kvetch. It’s always good to let it out, take a breath, and then keep moving forward.

What do you hope your kids will learn about creativity from you? 

I was lucky enough to have very creative grandparents. My maternal grandfather co-created Captain America and his art table took up his whole living room. My paternal grandparents were both artists whose work covered their walls and ours as well. I hope that my work can be a reminder to my girls that art is a valid (although terrifying and hard) life choice. If they feel really drawn to it, I don't want their creative dreams to feel out-of-reach or unrealistic. 

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Megan Margulies is a memoirist and journalist whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, and Vogue Magazine, among others. She has two daughters ages eight and four, and a canine son who is in his terrible two's. You can find her on Twitter (X) @meganmargulies and learn more at www.meganmargulies.com or work with her at witchesofpitches.com. 

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Hi! I’m Heidi. Writer. Editor. Mother. I’m interviewing 100 creative mothers, because I believe the more we see other mothers making beauty and meaning in small moments, the more we will be inspired to make our own kind of art, whatever that may look like during this intense season of life. Support the project by sharing with a friend.