In my last blog, I introduced Anne Lamott's autobiographical book Bird by Bird. The book records her insights about life and in turn writing. After the self-revelations related to her motives for writing, Lamott's book can be broken down into three categories: The Significance of Writing, Some Suggestions about Writing, and Some Insights Concerning Writing.
The first section deals with the significance of writing. She stridently explains that "good writing is about telling the truth" (3). Concerning the author's motivation she relates, "you hold an imaginary gun to your head and make yourself stay at the desk" (7). Obviously, this makes it quite significant, at least from the writer's perspective. Explaining the value of the end product, she notes that books "show us what community and friendship means; they show us how to live and die"(15).
The next category of thought addresses a litany of helpful suggestions about the practical disciplines of writing.
1. Write incrementally. From the perspective of a coach she gives this advice: "write short assignments" (16). Any large product can be broken down into multiple shorter pieces. Refuse to be overwhelmed by the ultimate length of the finished product.
2. Just get it down. Lamott acknowledges that "no one is reading your first drafts" (71). So, just get it down! Of primary consideration is for the writer to "be afraid of not getting your writing done" (226). All writers, especially good ones, write lousy (she actually used a different adjective) first drafts (21). Lamott explains that "almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts" (25). What is of critical importance is that the writer capture thoughts on paper.
3. Let someone else read your work. Another suggestion, one about which she is adamant is, "by all means let someone else take a look at your work" (57). An extra set of eyes reviewing your work can be incredibly helpful. She explains that the nature of good writing is such that "you find out things as you go along. Then you go back and rewrite." (71). But as you write and then rewrite ("edit" if you please), then by all means have someone review your work. Every great writer with few exceptions takes this approach.
4. Write a letter. "When you don't know what else to do, when you're really stuck and filled with despair and self-loathing and boredom, but you can't just leave your work alone for a while and wait, you might try telling your history-- part of a character's history-- in the form of a letter" (172). This seems to be an interesting tactic to break through the traditional writer's block.
I’ll conclude my thoughts on Bird by Bird next time with my favorite insights on writing that I learned. Have you read a book on improving your skill or passion? Leave one bit of advice that stuck with you in the comments.
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