Oh my. I'm so glad I waited several years before finally reading this. Dillard's brief commentary on what it is to write is SO true, but so painful. Funny at moments but raw in every way. Every aspiring blogger should read it to understand what real writing is. THIS IS IT. Annie Dillard is recognized for her fiction but this is so much more. She strips off the fantasy of writing, tears away the false glamour, and gets at the guttural ditch-digging effort of what it takes to craft sentence after sentence in ways that make you want to read.
For those who wish to write, it will give you courage. Courage to delete heavily. Pour over the structure of your work. Throw away beloved passages. It will convince you risk it all now and not wait to write something great later. Later is for later. Thanks, Annie. I needed that.