Why Does Place Matter in Reference to Dillard

I have to admit that Annie Dillard's piece was confusing and hard to follow. I had a difficult time understanding the significance of each of her stories and their relevance to place in reference to writing. It became clear that she did not approach the subject of writing head on, but used examples of different experiences in order to explore the act of writing from an authors perspective. Dillard described the cabin in which she wrote as a single room with walls made of shrunken planks and no insulation. The picture she paints is of a desolated shack; a place I feel no sane person would ever feel attached to. She even goes on to say, "I don't much care for where I work. I don't notice things" (The Writing Life). At first I interpreted this to mean that Dillard did not care about place and I took it at face value. After reading the passage again I saw a different perspective. I do not feel that Dillard was saying place did not matter, but instead wanted the reader to understand the real concerns of a writer. I believe Dillard feels that a place one writes should not be extravagant and located in a place where constant distractions occur. Instead, I feel that she believes a person should write in a place that offers no disturbances to ensure that whatever is placed on paper comes straight from the mind and imagination of it's author. Although Dillard's view on place differs from Sanders, I do not feel that one view is right over the other. Sanders felt that he needed to be familiar with his home (place) in order to use his imagination, where as Dillard felt that she writes best in a place that offers no form of distraction from attempting to place her vision on paper.