Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and wife of Michael Chabon, was on my show yesterday. At the end of my show, I usually ask my guests for advice for the writers out there.

Ayelet talked about the girls in prison that she teaches and that she asked them what was the most important part of a writer’s anatomy. (What do you think it is? Before you read on, guess…. I asked my own students last night and they said, “The eyes,” “the brain,” “the heart.” Her students gave similar answers. Yes, they are all important but that’s not it.)

“Your butt!” she said. Because if your butt’s not in the chair, nothins’ gonna happen. No writing is going to get done.

Yep. A writer’s butt reigns supreme.