I Disagreeee!

While I was reading The Writing Life, I realized that I disagree with Annie Dillard on one very significant point: that the writer isn’t in control of his/her story. I definitely feel like the writer is in control of his/her story, and that’s what makes writing so rewarding. Although sometimes it may feel like our story has a mind of its own, ultimately it’s in the writer’s hands to guide the story where the writer sees fit. I see this especially as I’m editing my story from workshop—the places where I let my writing go too “free”, I’m now having to come back and push it/tweak it back in line. It is this power that the writer has that ultimately separates mindless droning/random stream of consciousness from a well-crafted story. This actually reminds me of what I read once about airplanes—apparently airplanes can’t be on route all the time, they sway off the right path, and it’s the pilot’s job to constantly steer the airplane back onto the desired route (I guess it’s the same with driving a car). Although it’s the airplane that is supposedly doing all the work, the pilot is what makes the work of the airplane meaningful. After all, if an airplane simply flew and the pilot didn’t offer any guidance, there wouldn’t be much use in the airplane. So I think the author definitely plays a pivotal role in the writing process, and the author should be aware of this power/responsibility and use it wisely.

Now that I read over this blog post, I feel like the airplane metaphor serves as a better and clearer metaphor than the pregnancy/birth one. J