The Writing Life
Publication Details
Type:
Book
Publisher:
Harper Perenial
Published:
1989
Reading Details
Pages:
111
Reading History
1st read
September 21, 2026
Lawrence, Kansas (US)
Highlights
First Paragraph:
Notes/Quotes
When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner's pick, a woodcarvers' gouge, a surgeon's probe. You wield it and it digs a path you follow. Soon you find yourself deep in new territory. Is it a dead end, or have you located the real subject? You will know tomorrow, or this time next year.
"I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend. During visiting hours, I enter its room with dread and sympathy for its many disorders. I hold its hand an hope it will get better."