> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://justincox.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Write Now with Hilary Levey Friedman - URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2021/02/write-now-with-hilary-levey-friedman/ - Published: 2021-02-10T11:02:38.000Z - Updated: 2023-06-17T00:13:10.000Z - Description: How this writing about issues impacting people’s lives motivates this writer - Author: Justin Cox - Tags: Interview, #hilary-levey-friedman **Hilary talks about writing on a chaise lounge, which sounds incredibly comfortable. While I have an elaborate office setup with an ergonomic chair and sit/stand desk, there is something incredibly comforting about writing from the couch. Where do you write?* --- ## Who Are You? [Hilary Levey Friedman](https://hilaryleveyfriedman.com/?ref=justincox.com), Professor at Brown University and author in Providence, RI. You can connect with me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hleveyfriedman/?ref=justincox.com), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/hleveyfriedman/?ref=justincox.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/hilaryleveyfriedman). ## What Do You Write? I write non-fiction. More specifically, I write about the social sciences. I don’t shy away from saying I’m interested in “women’s issues,” which includes (but is not limited to) family, childhood, education, feminism, and pop culture. I used to write much more for an academic audience, which involved lots of theory and literature reviews, and less of what impacts people’s everyday lives, which is what I personally am most interested in exploring. My most recent book, **Here She Is,* is about beauty pageants in America and my previous book, **Playing to Win,* was about competitive afterschool activities for elementary school-age kids. An interest in competition and pop culture infuses much of my work. ## Where Do You Write? Just before I started graduate school, way back in 2003, I bought a chaise lounge that was on sale as the floor model at a furniture outlet. This became my main writing chair through four states and six moves; in fact I am typing this while sitting in the chair! It’s in my home office next to a desk, where I rarely **write write*. A good writing day includes several hours in the chaise in comfy pants, no bra, and no jewelry. I do edit in the chair sometimes, but I much prefer a silent campus library for editing, when I feel I need to be much more disciplined. The chaise may not be much to look at, but it’s sentimental value makes it beautiful to me. ## When Do You Write? My mind is usually best in the morning, before lunch. Then, I slow down… Until I realize it’s almost time for my kids to get home/be done with school and then I panic and hurtle toward productivity for the last forty-five minutes or so. Deadlines of all types are very motivating for me. ## Why Do You Write? I write because I think I have something to say about how the world works. My hope is that when someone reads something I’ve written they: 1\. Learn something, no matter how small, that they didn’t know before, and 2\. Can recognize some aspect of their own life that enables them to make a connection, or for some understanding to click into place for them that wasn’t there before. I always love reading books that de-mystify something so clearly that I think, “Of course that’s the way it is, I only wish I had thought of it that way before!” ## How Do You Overcome Writer’s Block? I often think, “Hilary, you need a mental palate cleanser.” I’ll choose to distract my brain for a bit with something that’s very different from what I’m working on — like reading a mystery novel or watching a reality TV show. Occasionally, if I really need to refocus, I’ll do one of those things while exercising. That’s a real bonus because then I feel productive in at least one aspect of my life. ## Bonus: What Do You Enjoy Doing When Not Writing? See above! Reading is absolutely my favorite thing to do in the world — I read about 100 books each year. I also am a Bravoholic who moonlights as a teen girl who loves most shows on Freeform. All the better if I get to do both of these things with my sons (and I get pleasure from dressing them up while I still can and taking way too many photos of them). Finally, I am very politically active, which I frankly see as necessary. When it comes to civic engagement it’s a **very* good day when it’s also enjoyable because that means progress is being made, people’s lives are getting better, and my friends and I have done something that matters.