Is it possible to have children and a decent writing career?

We also explore American dialects, drop in on Joan Didion, and take another look at the malleability of digital publications.

Writing with children. Writers who are also parents know the difficulty of finding enough time to do both jobs well. On the Beyond the Margins blog, writer Jessica Francis Kane tells her candid story of struggle and, finally, mastery of the balance. She also takes on the debate begun last year by Richard Ford on whether having children is good or bad for a writing career. Ultimately, she writes, neither argument is exactly right. “We’re all working as hard as we can.” Read the essay here.