Writing Prompt: When the Bough Breaks
Each month, we post a writing prompt tied to the current month's essay. Please email your responses of 500 words or less to lmreflections (at) literarymama (dot) com with the word "writing prompt" in the subject line so that we know it's not an essay submission. We will accept responses until the 15th of each month and offer our feedback on each response privately before the end of the month. We hope you'll take this opportunity to get inspired, share your work, and find community with other writers!
In "When the Bough Breaks" , Ann Whitfield Powers writes about seeking communion with writer mothers who have gone before her as a necessary preparation for nurturing two young children and a creative life. She looks to Louise Erdrich's Blue Jay's Dance, and to Lia Purpura's Increase. In her essay, she unpacks the process of finding solace in others' "controlling metaphors of motherhood"- "Blue jay, raccoon, scallop, tree -- feisty, crazed, watchful, rooted."
Write about something from the natural world that functions as a metaphor for your experience of motherhood.