Member-only story
Sharing My Flashlight
by Michelle Montoro
“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” -Annie Dillard from The Writing Life
Have you ever had something as basic as an old book that has resided on your bookshelf for decades reach out and grab hold of you, demanding that you pay attention?
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard has done that to me. On more than one occasion.
Many, many years ago, my favorite English professor from my university days recommended this book to me. I have read it multiple times over the years and will often feel it calling to me to reread the words. This seems to happen when I find myself stuck in a writing rut, wondering what on earth I have to offer that is valuable to the world.
