… Young people often ask, “How does one become a writer?” My answer is always simply: “By writing.” Writing is like experience: if you don’t experience things, then you won’t understand life; and if you don’t write, then you won’t know what you’re capable of creating.

Yu Hua, China in Ten Words

Mountaineering is often described as the “most literary of sports,” and rightfully so: can we imagine lists of memoirs, academic tomes, autobiographies, biographies, poetry, short stories, and all other manner of creations for running, say, or football? (There are, of course, many reasons for this, many of which we will be bumping up against in this course)

We won’t be producing our own mountaineering memoirs in this course, but I will ask you to approach your writing for this class in the spirit of many of the works we will be reading: playful, reflective, thoughtful, engaged. One can write seriously without being dull. I encourage you to go beyond what you might think of as “academic” writing in this class. This does not mean producing navel-gazing responses that engage very little with the source material – but don’t be afraid to make connections to outside things, your own experience, and the like. Sometimes, going out on a limb can be one of the most productive intellectual exercises we can partake in.

I spend a lot of time crafting posts on my personal blog, just as I do when writing a formal academic piece. I expect that you, too, will spend a lot of time on your writing for this class. But above all, I hope you will approach your work in this class in the spirit intended: with a mixture of seriousness and playfulness (after all, this is a course on a fascinating and engaging subject!). Don’t be afraid to write, don’t be afraid if it’s not perfect, and don’t be afraid to go out on a limb – it’s only by writing that we get better at writing.

You ask me why it is I wish to stay in the jade green mountains
I laugh, making no response; my heart is free from care.
Peach blossoms go on the current, leaving no trail.
There exists a heaven and earth beyond the world of man.

Li Bai