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. 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.
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Annie Dillard (1945 -- ) is an American author best known for lyrical, narrative prose. In May 2021, I read and reviewed Pilgrim of Tinker Creek:
I
have no interest in being a naturalist, a botanist, an etymologist, but
I was enthralled by Dillard's lyrical, enraptured descriptions of
nature in all its wild diversity. I can't imagine inching on my belly
through long grass filled with who knows what bugs and critters just for
the chance to observe a muskrat up close, but I'm glad that's exactly
what Dillard did. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek opened my eyes to so many
aspects of the natural world that I've never observed or even
considered, giving me a new perspective on the "natural order" (or
disorder). All in all, a very satisfying reading experience.
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