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May 31, 2007

The Writing Life

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“There is neither a proportional relationship, nor an inverse one, between a writer’s estimation of a work in progress and its actual quality. The feeling that the work is magnificent, and the feeling that it is abominable, are both mosquitoes to be repelled, ignored, or killed, but not indulged.”

–Annie Dillard

Ah - I feel better. I regularly find comfort in these words as I struggle with my little corner of the writer’s world. It’s easy - for me; I’ll let you speak for yourself - to become terrifically disheartened when my words refuse to fall into place. When I labor over the revision of a paragraph, or a sentence, I sometimes decide it’s simply unfixable. Why did I choose this subject? Why did I even bother turning on the computer today? Why?!

What a joy it was to discover this little book, a scant 111 pages, which speaks to the same issues of self-doubt, drudgery and darkness. Oh, yes - and the sheer joy of discovery when the words, magically, align themselves into a thing of intrigue and beauty on the page. Eureka!

Best of all, Annie Dillard is no ordinary fellow-struggler. She is the Pulitzer Prize wining author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and several other best selling books. In The Writing Life, she dives headlong into the tensions that often plague writers. The doubt that circles overhead, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The loneliness inherent in the solitary task of writing. The lost plots, jumbled dialogues and tangled nerves that send us running.

And, yes - the discoveries that lure us back to the scrap of paper, the notebook, the keyboard day by day. She reminds us what a wonderful life this is - what joy there is to be found through perseverance, through seeing your tale through to its rightful end.

This is a terrific book, filled with insight and wisdom. It’s comforting to find such a keen kinship with an author of Ms. Dillard’s stature. As she recounts her own tales of struggling to find her way, it encourages one that, yes! I can do this as well.

If you’re a writer - or aspire to be - you’ll love this book.

The Writing Life is available online at Amazon.

Tim Anderson
The Medical Migrant
http://www.medicalmigrant.com/
http://medicalmigrant.blogspot.com/


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One Response to “The Writing Life”

  1. sylvia c. Says:
    June 1st, 2007 at 10:27 pm

    I love reading books on writing. I’ll definitely put this one on my list.

    Thanks, Tim!

    truly,

    Sylvia C.

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