by Annie Dillard, Tavia Gilbert
Write as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients. That 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? I am in d...
I liked "The Writing Life" very much however the lyricism of some of the passages was not what I was hoping for. The fragment where she mentions that all of us see art (be it a painting or a piece of writing) in our own way and thus appreciate what others might have missed.
Annie Dillard is a brilliant writer, but this book -- a collection of meditations on writing -- meanders around her writing career, sometimes stopping for a minute or two to kick at the dirt.Sprinkled throughout are stories about other writers and adventurers, and while some sparkle, others feel for...
Annie Dillard wrote a brutally honest description of her relationship and struggles with the process of writing. Instead of the usual advice about showing, not telling, etc that I see etched inside my eyelids, as I read The Writing Life, I was compelled to copy its poetic quotes on note cards that I...
A short, pretentious read that leaves me hoping I never start quoting Emerson. I have no idea why I chose to read the book, and it is a question that its pages did not answer for me.
A charming little read, with its insights and strange tales of the writing life. I enjoyed the presentation of musings and explanations of varying lengths; the mind of a writer doesn't always (or even necessarily often) present itself in a linear fashion conducive to the traditional narrative. Unf...
Dillard manages to show the intense intellectual and physical work of writing and still make the challenge appealing. Excellent writing is not accidental. Though I read this book many years ago, I still recall some of Dillard's writing advice (although I did need to look up the wording):"One of the...
I'm sure I've read this, but can't remember it, so back in the pile it goes.
I love this woman's writing. This book is less ethereal than Pilgrim at Tinker Creek or similar. This one really is a description of her life as a writer, albeit in a pretty non-linear fashion, as you'd expect. It's inspirational to read about how she slowly crafts each phrase, each sentence of her ...
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