Welcome to the 2nd Edition of {Beauty in the Chaos of a Writer’s Life}, where I write about writing, for the Ladder2Rooftop Academy with Jami Amerine of Sacred Ground, Sticky Floors. So glad you’re here!

It probably goes without saying, that to be a great writer, you must be (or become) a great reader.

I’ve heard a number of authors state this number one tip for wannabe writers: READ. Read widely. Read often. Read the dead. Read the living. Just read!

Are you an avid reader, or is this an area in which you hope to grow?

The best way to begin reading more (besides setting goals) is to get yourself a writing assignment. With a deadline. Under these circumstances, you will LOVE reading. You will NEED to read. Then pages read will create momentum, and you’ll be on your way. So I’ve heard. 🙂

I encourage writers to read a wide variety of types of books, but today I recommend one of the best books I have ever found on writing–The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard. It’s the kind of book you want to read again and again. The kind of book you need.

Annie Dillard is wise and warm and brilliant. She spells out the trials of the writing life, and the joys. She tells the truth, and then gives us the courage to begin. Listen to this little excerpt:

“Who will teach me to write?”

“The page, the page, that eternal blankness, the blankness of eternity which you cover slowly, affirming time’s scrawl as a right and your daring as necessity;

“The page, which you cover woodenly, ruining it, but asserting your freedom and power to act, acknowledging that you ruin everything you touch but touching it nevertheless, because acting is better than being here in mere opacity;

“The page, which you cover slowly with the crabbed thread of your gut; the page in the purity of its possibilities; the page of your death, against which you pit such flawed excellences as you can muster with all your life’s strength:

“That page will teach you to write.” (Annie Dillard)

The first time I read The Writing Life, I was taken by this drama. The page, the page, that eternal blankness… I scribbled it in the back of a journal. I laughed, thinking it was some kind of joke. At least a writerly exaggeration.

The page of your death, I copied, half hoping I would never need to become that kind of writer. Can’t I just sit at my favorite desk with the backyard view and the background music and the words flowing? I watch movies. I’ve caught the vision.

This was early in my writing journey, and I basically knew not much. I didn’t know how hard it would be to consistently fill pages with words that mattered.

Writing is hard for many reasons. Dillard explores many in this book. In my experience, you don’t know how hard it is, until you walk down the road a bit. You end up looking for secrets, for magic to make it easier. You hate the blank page. Until you fill it hundreds and thousands of times, and then you understand.

The page has become your best teacher.

And so you continue to cover it thoughtfully. You assert yourself, inside the blankness of eternity. You lay out your life in fragments and gather thoughts onto the page long before they make sense. You take action. You keep on.

A writer friend told me that when you’ve filled thousands of blank pages, you have begun. As in, you’ve only just begun. She said it like she was offering me hope, like we should be cheering this beginning. I felt it was too little to celebrate. I had a lot to learn. (*have)

You’re in a good place, writer.

I want to encourage you to keep daring. Begin with the page, the page of your death (but hopefully not).

Cover it. Ruin it. Assert yourself. Act. For there, on that page, you will learn.

*Don’t forget to pick up a copy of The Writing Life.

You’re welcome. 🙂

~Angela