"Every book begins in the margins."

Not every thought becomes a poem.

Some arrive as questions scribbled in a notebook.
Some begin as conversations with God.
Others are moments I nearly overlooked—a sentence overheard, a quiet morning, a memory that refused to leave.

These are those moments.

Notes From the Margins is a collection of reflections on writing, faith, creativity, books, healing, and the ordinary experiences that shape the stories we carry. Think of it as the space between finished poems—the place where ideas are still becoming.

I'm glad you're here.

— Tawana

From the Margins

The quiet place where ideas become poems.

Why I Still Write by Hand

Some people ask why I still carry a notebook when nearly everything else in life lives inside a screen.

The truth is, I don't believe every thought should arrive quickly.

There is something about writing by hand that slows me down just enough to notice what I almost would have missed. A sentence becomes less about getting somewhere and more about listening. Sometimes I begin with a single word. Other times it's a question I can't answer yet. I have learned not to rush either one.

My notebooks are filled with unfinished thoughts, crossed-out lines, prayers tucked between paragraphs, and observations that seemed insignificant when I wrote them. Months later, I often discover that those quiet notes became the beginning of a poem.

Writing by hand reminds me that good writing rarely arrives all at once. It asks for patience. It asks for attention. It asks us to sit with ourselves a little longer than is comfortable.

Perhaps that's why I continue returning to the page.

Not because it is easier than writing on a computer.

Because it is slower.

And sometimes, slower is exactly where honesty lives.

—

Tawana N. Gant

“The margins often hold the beginning of everything worth saying.”