- Write Better Letters
- Posts
- April's Notable Quote for Newsletter Writers
April's Notable Quote for Newsletter Writers
Annie Dillard đź–¤
Camille Freeman
April 23, 2024
This month’s notable quote is from The Writing Life by Annie Dillard:
One of the few 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 send 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.
This passage highlights the idea that releasing your ideas into the world makes way for more ideas to come through.
Magic 🪄
This is the kind of thing that sounds good in writing, but doesn’t always FEEL true when we’re thinking about ourselves.
Other people may have endless ideas, but mine are a harder to come by.
You can’t go wrong with Annie Dillard, though, so I think we should trust her here.
The nice thing about newsletters is that they’re low-stakes. You can send our your ideas in small parcels, testing them out and refining your thinking as you do.
What small thought can you share - freely and abundantly - with your readers this week?
Take care,
Camille
p.s. Need some motivation to get writing? Want feedback to see if your writing is clear and brief and true? Upgrade to the paid version of this newsletter & attend our monthly newsletter-writing + peer feedback session. We’ll be meeting next week on Wednesday, May 1 from 7-8:30 pm ET.
Reply