ABSTRACT
Tradition, for writers, can be like this axe: practical and symbolic, meaningful and meaningless, real and fake. Always, though, it is an issue we must confront when we write, asking ourselves what responsibility we have to a tradition of writing, what responsibility we have as writers to be original, or even what responsibility we have to a tradition of originality. As with all the issues discussed in this book, every writer will have their own answers, but this chapter will highlight some of the questions that those beginning to write simply cannot avoid.
