Member Spotlights Member Spotlight: Helen Sheehy May 8, 2025 Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab) on Facebook (opens in a new tab) on Linkedin (opens in a new tab) via email Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Finding a way to live with loss is every human’s challenge. W. H. Auden said “Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.” Writing helps to know and understand the past, survive the present, and imagine a future. What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Doing something physical. Playing tennis, riding a horse, cleaning the basement, cooking. What is your favorite time to write? Mornings. What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? William James advised that “doing determines being.” Willa in my novel says “get with it.” Just write. That’s all. What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? Writing for me is about discovery and that always excites me. I write to figure things out. Helen Sheehy’s Just Willa is out now with Cave Hollow Press.
