Thoughtful stories for thoughtless times.
Longreads has published hundreds of original stories—personal essays, reported features, reading lists, and more—and more than 14,000 editor’s picks. And they’re all funded by readers like you. Become a member today.
Ramona Ausubel’s latest book, Unstuck: 101 Doorways Leading From the Blank Page to the Last Page, is a companion for writers at all stages of the process, offering doorways into, through, and out of writing projects. She is also the author of three novels and two short story collections.
Ausubel, who is a professor at Colorado State University, has taught at Tin House, The Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference, The Community of Writers, Writing by Writers, the low-residency MFA programs at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and Bennington. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, The New York Times, and The Oxford American, among many others.
Creative Nonfiction Podcast host Brendan O’Meara recently spoke with Ausubel for Episode 528 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, a conversation in which they talk about finding joy in the writing process, being resilient in the face of friction, and developing your voice as a writer. This excerpt from their conversation has been edited for clarity.








