edit yourself toward boldness; words from The Argonauts

In the midst of these strange times, I read greedily, insatiable for news from the lives of others.

A few days ago, reading Maggie Nelson's award-winning, New York Times bestselling The Argonauts, I found myself in the company of one who, like me, allows tremble in as part of her process—and relies on editing to discover her own boldness.

My writing is riddled with such tics of uncertainty. I have not excuse or solution, save to allow myself the tremblings, then go back in later and slash them out. In this way I edit myself into a boldness that is neither native nor foreign to me.