2. What does Dillard's "line of words" do with random pictures in the writer's mind?
(a) Writes them down, word for word.
(b) Dissects them out.
(c) Dismisses them.
(d) Dreams of them.

3. Jack London maintained that every writer needs a technique, experience, and what else?
(a) A philosophical position.
(b) An imagination.
(c) A pen.
(d) A certain personality.

4. What do television and films do to the body's senses, according to Dillard?
(a) Make connections.
(b) They make the writer sense the need to write.
(c) Numb them.
(d) Stimulate them.

5. Who does Dillard say that she believes to be one of the most prolific writers who has ever lived?
(a) Edgar Allen Poe.
(b) James Patterson.
(c) William Shakespeare.
(d) Thomas Mann.

6. What ended the chess game for Dillard in Chapter 2?
(a) She finished writing her book.
(b) The baby went home.
(c) The custodian wished to stop playing.
(d) The opponent scrambled the board up completely.

7. How did Dillard get into the library in Roanoke late at night?
(a) She hid in the women's room when the door was locked.
(b) She had a key.
(c) She climbed in through a window.
(d) The door was never locked.

8. Which insect is discussed in the book as part of an entomological experiment?
(a) A fly.
(b) Phataria.
(c) A butterfly.
(d) A worm.

9. What does Dillard say that the printed word cannot compete with?
(a) The movies.
(b) People.
(c) Music.
(d) Travel.

10. Dillard believes that some writers weaken their resolve to discard parts of their work. Why?
(a) The words have come to have a necessary quality.
(b) They believe every word they write is too important to discard.
(c) It is too much work.
(d) People have told them it is too good to discard.

11. How long did it take William Faulkner to write "As I Lay Dying"?
(a) Ten years.
(b) Six years.
(c) Six weeks.
(d) Six months.

12. As explained by Dillard in Chapter 1, what must be done to a piece of writing after the first draft is finished?
(a) Delete just a few sentences.
(b) It must be mercilessly edited.
(c) Nothing; it is done.
(d) You must strike it with a hammer.

13. What did Dillard do one night in the rare book room of the Virginia library?
(a) Left the lights on all night.
(b) Moved a white chess piece.
(c) Knocked over a chess board.
(d) Moved a black chess piece.

14. Oftentimes, what part of Dillard's work must be edited out?
(a) The typos and misspellings.
(b) The best-written part.
(c) The opening paragraph.
(d) The dialogue.

15. What was seen outside the carrel window in Roanoke when Dillard peeked outside the blinds?
(a) Daylight.
(b) A May beetle.
(c) The parking lot.
(d) Fireworks.