We asked several writers and scholars to reflect upon the anxiety generated by the piece of writing they are currently working on—how it hasn’t quite come together yet, how it generates a series of unique struggles, and how, even when they know they’ll resolve what seemed intractable difficulties, there are “raw” moments that all writers seldom wish to stare at and try their best to work around as quickly and efficiently as they can. For many of us, writing is a process of resolving problems we’ve created. We’ve asked these writers to jot down a 500-word mini-essay giving a frank, behind-the-scenes look at their craft-in-process. The idea was to ask them to talk about these “raw” moments.