The Writing Life by annie dillard

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

This is a short and quick 70-pager (at least in the version I read). It truly gives the impression of being an extension of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, with its tone and abundant use of quotes and anecdotes. The only real difference is that this work focuses more (and at times less) on writing.

There are a few interesting points. Dillard has little inclination towards using brand names in writing. She seems to believe that it undermines the chances of achieving classic status when you incorporate things that are bound to become outdated. She also advocates a variation of the "you are what you eat" philosophy, stating that your writing is what you read (oh, how I wish!). If you aspire to be a novelist, you should read novels for the sheer pleasure of it. If you want to be a poet, you read poems because you can't resist. Otherwise, in my words, you're a poser, and for some reason, the writer pose is one that a certain type of person can't help but strike.

I'll leave you with some Dillard-style advice:

Write as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients. This is, after all, the case. What would you begin writing if you knew you would die soon? What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality?
Write about winter in the summer. Describe Norway as Ibsen did, from a desk in Italy; describe Dublin as James Joyce did, from a desk in Paris. Willa Cather wrote her prairie novels in New York City; Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn in Hartford, Connecticut. Recently, scholars learned that Walt Whitman rarely left his room.

Which is all fine and good, except that Mark Twain actually wrote HF in Elmira, NY, at his wife Livy's parents' place. They were extremely wealthy (coal being the source of the wealth), and had an outdoor cabin at the edge of a field overlooking the woods where Clemens escaped to write every day.

Speaking of which, Dillard also insists that you avoid a view. Position your desk to face the walls or, if a window is nearby, let it overlook ugly roof lines. The view has to be mental, in other words, so go for it. Every day. And good luck. The life of a (true) artist is neither simple nor swift.

Amen.

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Perfdreamxr

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

I made several missteps as a reader with this book.

First of all, I chose to read this particular work by Annie Dillard before delving into anything else she had written. My original plan was to begin with "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," but unfortunately, that one is in hardback format. In today's digital age, reading actual books doesn't occur as frequently as it once did. I really must correct this oversight.

Secondly, I opted for the audiobook version, and the narrator didn't seem to be a good fit at all. She sounded too youthful and, well, more like someone who might be better suited to reading fantasy, science fiction, or crime fiction.

I picked up this book mainly because it was short. Sometimes, I find myself falling into the trap of being overly concerned with keeping up with my reading numbers. There are just so many books that I渴望 to read, but as we all know, there's only a limited amount of time. Social media seems to be consuming far too much of it.

I should probably mention that the writing in this book was, of course, excellent. However, what Dillard emphasizes throughout is that writing is a miserable, demanding, and unrewarding craft when a writer actually sits down to do the work. She discussed this in many different ways. It wasn't exactly what I had expected from a book on the subject, but it was honest, that's for sure.

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OrochiHankHill

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

One gets the sense that Annie Dillard writes not with the intention of imparting wisdom in a traditional way, but rather to engage in a kind of intellectual dance, running circles around the rest of us.

Somehow, incidentally, along this meandering path of her writing, her unique outlook on life manages to shine through. It is a perspective that is at once cynical, perhaps a reflection of the harsh realities she has witnessed, and yet also joyfully observant, able to find beauty and wonder in the most unexpected places.

This outlook is not something that comes easily; it is an undeniable, hard-won truth that she has arrived at through her own experiences and reflections.

As she herself says, "I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend. During visiting hours, I enter its room with dread and sympathy for its many disorders. I hold its hand and hope it gets better." This quote gives us a glimpse into the deeply personal and almost spiritual connection she has with her writing, as if it were a living, breathing entity that she is nurturing and caring for.

It is this combination of skill, perspective, and passion that makes Annie Dillard's writing so captivating and unique.

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Umasou_007

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

Annie Dillard's description of her relationship and struggles with the writing process is brutally honest. Instead of the typical advice like "show, don't tell" that seems to be etched in my mind, as I read "The Writing Life," I was compelled to copy its poetic quotes onto note cards to use as bookmarks.

I anticipate that the gems within this work will inspire and educate me as I come across them in the days ahead. Quotes such as Michelangelo's note to his apprentice, "Draw, Antonio, draw, Antonio, draw and do not waste time," and "Throw out the beginning; the book begins in what you thought was the middle. It can take years and heartbreak to see that..." are truly profound.

Annie Dillard defines an important point. She states that the writer must solve two problems: Can it be done? and, Can I do it? Every book has an intrinsic impossibility that the writer discovers once the initial excitement fades. Yet, he writes in spite of that, finding ways to minimize the difficulty, strengthening other virtues, and cantilevering the whole narrative into thin air, making it hold. If it can be done, then he can do it, and only he. This idea of "minimizing the difficulty" motivates me to attend writing seminars and read how-to writing books.

Other notable points include the current tendency and pressure on writers to produce several books per year. Dillard argues that putting a book together is difficult and complex and should engage all of the writer's intelligence. Freedom as a writer is not "freedom of expression in the sense of wild blurting; you may not let rip." While I aim to complete one book per year, Dillard believes that writing a book full time takes between two and ten years.

I also tend to rewrite repeatedly as I write, but Dillard advises the opposite. She says, "The reason not to perfect a work as it progresses is that original work fashions a form the true shape of which it discovers only as it proceeds, so the early strokes are useless, however fine their sheen."

Finally, there is this word of warning: "The writer is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, because that is what he will know."

These insights from Annie Dillard offer valuable perspectives on the writing process and serve as a source of inspiration and guidance for me as I continue on my writing journey.

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Sachiko13

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

Some books don't have an ending.

What they have to say will linger on and surround you like a mental landscape. Annie Dillard's impassioned plea for the writing life is both hypnotic and tangible. She will transport you to writing desks in remote cabins and isolated studies (keeping the world out as much as possible) to evoke the various stages of writing, such as elation, excitement, despair, immobility, and doubt.

Time will slow down and expand in electrified sentences that you'll want to highlight and write down word for word in your own writing notebooks. Her uses of metaphor will thrill you to bits and stretch your understanding of the craft in ways you never thought about before. As you toil away on the page, she'll become a little ghost sitting on your shoulder, her lines so haunting.

Some books are written to be reread.

Line by line, paragraph by paragraph, Annie Dillard distills the elements that make writing as alive, elemental, and necessary as it can be.

It's a literary call to arms.

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Midievalfantasy

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

As a writer who has only one published novel, I am constantly eager to learn more about the writing life. I am always seeking to refine my skills and make improvements. I had high hopes of obtaining some unique insights into how to write skillfully from Dillard's writing.

This 111-page book took me three days to read. Normally, I would have finished it in just 30 minutes. However, I was determined to soak up every precious gem of knowledge. So, I read intently, taking breaks in the hope that it would get better the next time I picked it up.

Most writers seem to spend an excessive amount of time doing anything to avoid writing. Dillard, on the other hand, seemed to spend most of her time avoiding writing about writing. And if that wasn't frustrating enough, I was longing for the good stuff. The little time she did spend on the writing life was so disheartening that if I had been reading this book with the aspiration of becoming a writer, I might have seriously considered self-harm.

In conclusion, this book was a complete waste of time. It failed to meet my expectations and left me feeling disappointed and disillusioned. I had hoped for so much more from Dillard's work, but unfortunately, it did not deliver.

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Nahte123456

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

I do not, nor do I aspire to live "The Writing Life." However, due to the requirements of my degree, I recently found myself in a writing class. And I have been truly horrified by the enormity of the task of writing something, anything, without feeling like a complete fool!

I came across this book at a used store. I picked it up because my brother had been trying to get me to read Dillard for a while.

I immediately loved it for her brutally honest words of reality. After sitting in the class where I have to listen to a circle of people nod their heads in affirmation at the completely unoriginal garbage that is being produced week after week. I wonder if I'm the only one who wants to scream, "Are you serious?! Did you just end your story with the line 'at least I'm not alone'?" Or if it should be legal to let someone insert the phrase "I'd have to draw you a picture" at any point, in any story, under any circumstances. And what about using the phrase "crazy Jim"? Wouldn't it be kinder in the end to tell this student that saying "Crazy Jim" makes him sound like a "lame-o writer"?

(Does anybody but me notice that I'm avoiding sharing any of the horrendous drivel that I've put to paper? Hee-hee. It's my review, people, and I'll do whatever I damn well please.)

And then there is the soul-crushing reality that everything has already been said!

What's this? Oh, another story about breaking up? How refreshing.

What's that you say? When you were in nature, you felt alive? Hmmm, there's a fresh perspective.

And shh, shh, I want to hear this: what truth, what inspiration. To think, children have innocence that adults have lost - I hadn't considered that.

So I sit there in that class and I try to appreciate that my reaction to all of this writing I'm hearing is a harsh and unwarranted critique of a group of people who are sincerely trying to do something they enjoy or feel compelled to do for whatever reason. I smile, I affirm, I point out the things I liked (yes, there are some things I like), and I read my stories as fast as humanly possible and try to avoid follow-up conversation at all costs.

But then I go home and I pick up this little book (111 pages) and I read it. First quietly, then I notice I'm reading it aloud, then I'm laughing and shouting "yes"!

I think I fell in love with the book on page 11 when she talks about the meaningless task of writing compared to shoe sales. A thought she ends with, "If you believed Paradise Lost to be excellent, would you buy it? Why not shoot yourself, actually, rather than finish one more excellent manuscript on which to gag the world?"

YES!

Not to dork out or anything, but seriously - couldn't you pretty much say that about anything you do in life? And the wondering why we do what we do - that's good, but the doing it is better.

So I guess the syrupy, sweet moral of my story is that this book helped me to appreciate my classmates, the writing process, and the amusing trivialities that make our lives what they are.

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fillings

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

I have a rather complex relationship with this book, which can be described as a love/hate thing.

On one hand, it is truly a brilliant and poetic evocation of the creative process. The author manages to capture the essence and beauty of that process in a way that is both inspiring and thought-provoking.

However, on the other hand, I find that the process is somewhat overly romanticized. The examples given seem to exalt a rather rarified form of extreme self-sacrifice. This leads me to half-suspect that Dillard might be trying to discourage and/or sabotage future generations.

It's almost like a five-star meal that has a dash of arsenic in it. It looks and tastes wonderful, but there is a hidden danger lurking within.

Therefore, I would highly recommend approaching this book with caution. One must be discerning and not simply accept everything at face value.

While it has its merits and can offer valuable insights, it also has its flaws that need to be carefully considered.

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