Some Thoughts on Dillard's "Write Till You Drop"

After reading Annie Dillard's "essay entitled 'Write Till You Drop", I thought about what she means when she says at the beginning of the third paragraph--"Write as if you were dying." Certainly, if I were literally on my deathbed, I wouldn't want to be writing anything; I would want to be with my loved ones, enjoying time with them.

But in the context of the first couple of paragraphs I think I can see where she is coming from. In the beginning of the essay, Dillard talks about how each one of us is fascinated and captivated by a certain idiosyncratic slice of the whole continuum of possible things to know and experience. It is from that list of interests that no one else seems to have that a writer should search for subjects to write about. It is those things that a writer thinks should be said that no one else seems to be writing about that make good subject matter. She says that it is up to each individual writer to write about those things.

So in that context, the essayist is saying that if you died without writing about those particular things, perhaps no one else would. So her advice is not to write about subjects that a majority will love and be interested in, but write about those things that intrigue you.

Later in the essay, she says to go for it, give it your all, don't hold back. Don't save a line, a theme, and idea for some great work that you might write later. Use it in whatever you are currently writing. This made me think of how I get ideas when going about my business; driving to work, watching a movie, or even standing up on a pulpit next to my best friend as he exchanges vows with his bride. Many times in my life I have gotten a glimpse of something; an idea, a theme, a piece of doalogue and then have thought, "Man, I should write about that!" Sadly, what ususally happens is that I don't even jot the idea down in a notebook or anything, and just like Dillard said, it becomes lost to me. I really need to start keeping a small notebook with me for such times.