The path of writing

"When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s 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."

(from “The Writing Life” by Annie Dillard, included in Landmark Essays on Writing Process, edited by Sondra Perl, p. 225)

-- Submitted by Beth Blevins