It's a short book, but (I've said this before) at times I had trouble reading through some of the sections.
But, since Dillard is a much more accomplished (and skilled, all the metaphors she used in the book is more than enough evidence for that even if I didn't like them sometimes) writer, who am I to criticize. Her writing life obviously is what works for her, though to me it seems like a rather painful way to go about the process. That said, I still feel like I'm pretty new to the literary world, and since I'm mostly writing just for fun, perhaps I just don't have what it takes to drag myself through a five-year-long writing process that allows an author to put the entirety of himself or herself into one creative work.
I did enjoy the second half a lot more though. I, personally, have many different stories and works of fiction that I admire and love. I wanted to somehow work these into my own writing, but it would never come out right, and I would never really be satisfied with it. It was only when I just started writing - and stopped really consciously tracing and drawing plotlines - that things really took shape. That's not to say I'm totally free from influences, but I think it's true that each individual can only truly write well in things that are uniquely theirs.
Also, it was interesting to talk about Rahm in the end, and how we, as the audience, can only truly appreciate the final product, and not how the artist creates it. If I understood her correctly, it's interesting - and I agree with it to an extent - that the artist cannot really enjoy his or her own work, being so close as to almost be a part of the work itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment