Saturday quote to think about (October 13th)

“One of the 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.”
― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life 

I have an unabashed, delicious, desperate crush on Annie Dillard. I first read an excerpt of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek when I was a junior in highschool. I was lucky enough to have an teacher who I took for Sociology, but who also taught American Literature. If we had a reading assignment, after I'd finished, she didn't mind if I pillaged her bookshelves and read different stuff. Because I've always been a relatively quick reader (I really want to use the word 'prolific,' but that's not quite right), I'd almost always have time to read in class, and it was truly wonderful. Anyway, it was during this time that I picked up a compilation of stories and saw Dillard's stuff and fell in love with her quick turns of phrase and descriptions of life. So, I highly suggest at least flipping though Pilgrim at Tinker Creek if you haven't.

Anyway, I like the above quote because I think it speaks to something that I have never really gotten over, which I know is a death knell for the budding writer I was in college -- I loved my pieces too much. In my eyes, once they dropped from my fingertips to the page, they were pretty damn near perfection and couldn't be changed. I know -- grit your teeth at how idiotic that is.  I thought that writing was 95% and editing was, maybe, 5%. How wrong I was! I'm in the midst of trying to get a journal article published, it seems as though I'll never be done with it, and I know that, if anything, writing is 5% and editing is 95%. Truthfully, I'm guessing that it's around 45%/55% of writing and editing, respectively, but "scientific writing" doesn't yet come intuitively for me, so it may be harder than it should be.

Although the above quote doesn't specifically refer to editing, I think, for me, that is what it came down to -- fear of editing. I wasn't yet to a place where I didn't equate my writing to a tangible piece of me.  Editing? What a terrifying thing where pieces of myself would be picked over and parts discarded! F that noise! Ultimately, this was a crippling factor that I really didn't get over until I was a senior in college (and, ultimately, is still something I struggle without outside of science writing). Alas.

And I think what Dillard is saying needn't be limited only to writing -- it applies to life in general: "spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time.... Something more will arise for later, something better." Preach it! Go all out, go hard every time, and know that you did your damnedest, because only better things can come from this.


(source)

Enjoy your Saturday. I'll be running the Tough Mudder with some chums this weekend, so wish me luck!