The writing life (by Annie Dillard)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve seen books by Annie Dillard recommended by more than one other writer whom I trust, so I put a few of her books on my wishlist, and was given a couple of them for my recent birthday. One of them was ‘The writing life’, a short book which sounded interesting. So I picked that one up to read about ten days ago.

I had thought it would have some Christian content; the author calls herself a Christian, and her books were recommended in Christian books. If not overtly so, I thought it might be a helpful, if quirky guide to writing. The blurb on the back, for instance, asks the question: ‘How do you prepare yourself, all alone, to enter an extraordinary state on an ordinary morning?’

Possibly I should have read some of Annie Dillard’s other books first. This isn’t really a guide to writing, and it doesn’t answer the question on the back. Instead, it’s somewhat random jottings about the creative process, and the struggles she has gone through. She writes, for instance, about different sheds or other private locations where she has written books. 

The first chapter is somewhat about writing, but not very encouraging. It focuses more on writing that is thrown away - about the need to keep paring and editing, and that a whole day’s struggle to produce words may lead to half a sentence that’s kept, or nothing at all. 

The rest of the book is equally challenging, although I found it interesting in places, too. There are plenty of anecdotes, about walking, or visiting special places. One might get the idea that a writer sits at the screen (or typewriter, when this was written, in 1989) with nothing - or very little - that’s productive. The author even points out the disadvantages of being a writer, and more than once ponders why she bothers. She doesn’t seem to enjoy it at all. Yet she has evidently produced quite a number of published books. 

The last chapter was the strangest of all, from the point of view of writing. She describes in some detail her experiences with a stunt pilot, including going out for some flights in a small aircraft. It’s not something I could ever be persuaded to do. She mentions the trails made in the air that are creative, even beautiful, and yet vanish into nothing. She also mentions that the life span of people in small aircraft - including those spraying pesticides - is remarkably short. 

Perhaps there’s an analogy: a whole lot of effort for not much reward, which seems to be Annie Dillard’s opinion of writing. It’s almost as if she’s trying to discourage anyone from being a writer. 

The quotation from a book review on the front cover says that this book is ‘full of joys’, but I’m not sure I found them. The writing is very good and the descriptions evocative. But it wasn’t the book I was expecting. 

Maybe I’ll read it again in a few years, when I’m more familiar with the author’s style.

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