Oct 15, 2026 · 40 min · 7 segments
Getting a Black woman into the leadership seat is a milestone. Keeping her there, supported and thriving, is the real work. Dr. Monifa McKnight spent more than two decades rising from the classroom to…
Monifa McKnightGuestLex StatzerHostThinking back to that time when you were writing and editing and going through the whole process, was there a piece of writing advice that anyone gave you along the way that really stood out to you as a writer?
One piece of advice that did not feel natural to me, but they were on it, was when you write, step away and come back to it.
Just don't keep going and going and going and going and going, trying to get to the finish line.
The nature of how I used to work that I've had to unravel in myself is it's not about how much you can do or the quantity of what you can produce, but the quality of it.
And that piece of advice to write some, step back, do some reflection, and then come back, pick writing back up, you know, in a couple of days, was okay.
And I recognize I struggle with that because I'm so deadline-driven, and I, I, I was the student, you know, I wanna, I wanna get it done, I wanna, I wanna make sure it's the best product, and I wanna get it done before the due date.
But it was the best advice ever, and it was so complimentary to a change I was also making in my life, right? Like, you don't have to be in this constant space of getting it done.
It is okay to stop and have a slow morning and take your time drinking your coffee.
It was like the same approach had to be applied to the work, and that was just very different for me.
But great advice, because when I would take the breaks and come back to it, I felt refreshed and felt like I was able to create a better product.
Especially because your project was so personal, I can imagine taking time away and then stepping back with a more fresh mind could also be a bit cathartic for you.
Like, it could feel good to just take a break from the material, let yourself breathe for a minute, and then come back to it when you had almost a better mentality.
the superintendency, [laughs] and then I went into, you know, a book-writing process.
So there were things about how I worked that I needed to change and transform.
Thinking back to that time when you were writing and editing and going through the whole process, was there a piece of writing advice that anyone gave you along the way that really stood out to you as a writer?
One piece of advice that did not feel natural to me, but they were on it, was when you write, step away and come back to it.
Just don't keep going and going and going and going and going, trying to get to the finish line.
The nature of how I used to work that I've had to unravel in myself is it's not about how much you can do or the quantity of what you can produce, but the quality of it.
And that piece of advice to write some, step back, do some reflection, and then come back, pick writing back up, you know, in a couple of days, was okay.
And I recognize I struggle with that because I'm so deadline-driven, and I, I, I was the student, you know, I wanna, I wanna get it done, I wanna, I wanna make sure it's the best product, and I wanna get it done before the due date.
But it was the best advice ever, and it was so complimentary to a change I was also making in my life, right? Like, you don't have to be in this constant space of getting it done.
It is okay to stop and have a slow morning and take your time drinking your coffee.
It was like the same approach had to be applied to the work, and that was just very different for me.
But great advice, because when I would take the breaks and come back to it, I felt refreshed and felt like I was able to create a better product.
Especially because your project was so personal, I can imagine taking time away and then stepping back with a more fresh mind could also be a bit cathartic for you.
Like, it could feel good to just take a break from the material, let yourself breathe for a minute, and then come back to it when you had almost a better mentality.
the superintendency, [laughs] and then I went into, you know, a book-writing process.
So there were things about how I worked that I needed to change and transform.
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