"I cannot imagine a sorrier pursuit than struggling for years to write a book that attempts to appeal to people who do not read in the first place" (19). It's sad to say, but I agree with this quote 100%. Annie Dillard beautifully described the struggle of the life of a writer. It's not easy to write about one's idea to an audience who may never understand or enjoy what the writer sees. Then what's the point of writing in the first place?
Currently--well for the last year and a half--I've been working on a novel of my own. (Not that I would ever get it published, although if I end up finishing it, it would be nice to go through the whole publishing process.) As I read Dillard's road block experiences, especially on Chapter 3, I recalled the times when I too really struggled with the novel I have been working on. Just like Dillard, I went through more than one cup of coffee in order to focus but there were so many distractions around me. A writer has many, too many variables to consider when writing. This includes characters, organization, sentences, audience--audience is a biggy--, and the list goes on.
As a writer myself, I got the impression that Dillard thinks a lot. For example, I tend to think a lot...almost too much. Actually, I basically think nonstop. And maybe this is why I get nothing done. Maybe this is why I struggle a lot with papers and other times I write a paper in less than a couple of hours. I just can't seem to control my thoughts and organize them when I want to, and then there are those few occasions when it just all spills onto paper nicely. Others times, I feel like a writer's mind doesn't seem to produce anything. But, it's always a relief to know that these roadblocks are common among us as Dillard points out, "This morning, as on so many mornings, I lacked sufficient fuel for liftoff" (50). In my experience, if I don't take a break in a novel or piece that I'm working on, eventually I'm going to ruin it and perhaps never come back to it. That is often times why I fear writing. Yet in other moments, I can't think of anything to put down. An idea might pop out but as I add it to my piece, I know it won't work. So I go back to where I had stopped and wait and wait until a scene or sentence gets me back on course.
If only non-readers and maybe some readers knew just what kind of life it is to write with such agony and an overwhelming mind. We as writers have these ideas that are so meaningful to us, and yet is under appreciated from others. As Dillard mentions, "Why do you never find anything written about that idiosyncratic thought you advert to, about your fascination with something no one else understands? (67). Not long after she states, "There is something you find interesting, for a reason hard to explain" (67). Writers want to bring out an idea or an image or anything on our minds that we find passionate relevance in our lives. And we want to share that.
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