writing as work

My friend, who reads, told me that all the great writers say that writing is work; you have to discipline yourself to do it everyday (or something like that). This past semester I have realized that I can't leave writing out of my life; it keeps turning up and I've discovered how much I love it. So I've embraced it, perhaps naively, maybe subconsciously thinking that writing would come easy for me.

But this summer I have challenged myself to not only embrace my dream of writing, but embrace the work of writing (because Annie Dillard is probably right about all the work involved). I want to stop simply talking about the act of writing, but get my hands a little dirty and actually write enough to get frustrated with it. When I write academic papers, for some reason I always use the metaphor of churning butter. (weird, I know) I can churn out an academic paper, but creative, descriptive writing is different. It transcends the level of simple communication to the level of aesthetic and the author must create not just a text but an experience of truth, beauty, and story. That is what I want to practice this summer. So I have challenged myself to write something everyday this week. Its a small goal but something I can easily do before camp starts, and hopefully I'll become addicted enough to keep it up for the rest of the summer.

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