| Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott was the first | | | | the friends she was jealous of and why, and the |
| how-to writing book I've read in a long time, and I | | | | friends she decided not to like anymore because |
| was pleasantly surprised. She captured my | | | | they didn't like her manuscripts, which was |
| attention almost instantly in the introduction, when | | | | unexpected, but at the same time, wonderful to |
| she touched on one of the main reasons I've | | | | know that other people have those feelings. |
| wanted to become a writer: "but the idea of | | | | I paid extra attention to the Character and |
| spending entire days in someone else's office | | | | Dialogue chapters, because those are areas that I |
| doing someone else's work did not suit my | | | | need work. I think her ideas were extremely |
| father's soul. I think it would have killed him" (p. xii). | | | | helpful. "Knowledge of your characters also |
| I also loved the humor she used not only to poke | | | | emerges the way a Polaroid develops: it takes |
| fun at her own insecurities, "[I] was so tense that | | | | time for you to know them," (p. 44), and "ask |
| I walked around with my shoulders up to my ears | | | | yourself how they stand, what they carry in their |
| like Richard Nixon," (p. xiii), but also to point out | | | | pockets or purses, what happens in their faces |
| that writing is something that should be done out | | | | and to their posture when they are thinking, or |
| of enjoyment and not as a way to become rich. | | | | bored, or afraid. Whom would they have voted |
| She does a great job of sympathizing with | | | | for last time? Why should we care about them |
| beginners without being patronizing, "Plug your | | | | anyway? What would be the first thing they |
| nose and jump in, and write down all your | | | | stopped doing if they found out they had six |
| memories as truthfully as you can...don't worry | | | | months to live? Would they start smoking again? |
| about doing it well yet, though. Just start getting it | | | | Would they keep flossing?" (p.45). |
| down" (p. 4). She also points out that being a | | | | I had never thought of getting to know the |
| writer is not the fairy tale that most people | | | | characters like getting to know a friend, but I |
| imagine it to be, but it's still worth it. | | | | know that this will help me a great deal. And once |
| This particular passage really sums up the whole | | | | the character makes him or herself known, the |
| book for me: | | | | dialogue will follow organically: "the better you |
| What's real is that if you do your scales every | | | | know the characters, the more you'll see things |
| day, if you slowly try harder and harder pieces, if | | | | from their point of view," (p. 68). |
| you listen to great musicians play music you love, | | | | This may almost make it seem like being a writer |
| you'll get better. At times when you're working, | | | | goes hand in hand with being mentally ill, especially |
| you'll sit there feeling hung over and bored, and | | | | when she goes on to explain that listening to the |
| you may or may not be able to pull yourself up | | | | inner voice is "listen[ing] to your broccoli," (p.115), |
| out of it that day. But it is fantasy to think that | | | | but it fits in so perfectly with the rest of the |
| successful writers do not have these bored, | | | | book, and the idea that the characters write |
| defeated hours, these hours of deep insecurity | | | | themselves that it doesn't seem crazy. |
| when one feels as small and jumpy as a water | | | | Her chapter on finding your voice was not as |
| bug. They do. But they also often feel a great | | | | helpful as I had hoped. To me, it seemed as |
| sense of amazement that they get to write, and | | | | though she was just explaining why you must use |
| they know that this is what they want to do for | | | | your own voice, rather than how to find it. "The |
| the rest of their lives. (p. 14). | | | | truth of your experience can only come through |
| I already knew I wanted to be a writer, but this | | | | in your own voice. If it is wrapped in someone |
| book made me want to be a writer even more. | | | | else's voice, we readers will feel suspicious, as if |
| It inspired me and gave me so many helpful tips. I | | | | you are dressed up in someone else's clothes," |
| think the biggest challenge for most writers is | | | | (p.199). |
| feeling alone, thinking you're crazy because your | | | | Anne Lamott's voice is very apparent throughout. |
| mind works differently from most other people's. | | | | She is witty and helpful and comforting, and |
| It is so refreshing and comforting to hear that | | | | makes the whole process seem enjoyable, |
| this is it. This is the life. This is what it's like to be | | | | despite its difficulty. |
| a writer. | | | | This was probably the most helpful writing guide I |
| I also enjoyed her direct, no-nonsense approach, | | | | have ever read to date. It made me realize that |
| "the bottom line is that if you want to write, you | | | | writers are not the mythical creatures I've always |
| get to, but you probably won't be able to get | | | | imagined them to be. It made me realize that I |
| very far if you don't start trying to get over | | | | can be one, and that I am one. |
| your perfectionism" (p.31). She also talked about | | | | |