While attending the St. Petersburg, Florida Book Festival in 2007, several people recommended Ann Lamott’s, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Now I would like to pass that recommendation on to you. Ann’s main bit of wisdom on writing deals with overcoming the intimidation of writing a big piece. She advises to view the writing process as bird-by-bird. Write your story one bird at a time, and pretty soon your story will be about all the birds. This wisdom was passed to her brother by her father, and she has used it ever since.
She advocates writing your story or book as a series of interrelated short assignments. She imagines the story as a series of one inch square picture frames, and she tells the reader everything about that one inch square before moving on the next, and eventually she has a complete story.
Lamott transfers her knowledge to would be writers through an interesting use of examples and terminology. She divides her book into Five parts – Writing; The Writing Frame of Mind; Help Along the Way; Publication and Other Reasons to Write; and The Last Class. Each part has several sections, and just by looking at the section names, the reader can appreciate her unique style. The sections include titles such as “Shitty First Drafts,” and “Radio Station KFKD.”
In “Shitty First Drafts,” Ann urges the first time writer to just get started. Put something down on paper, anything. Don’t worry about it, nobody is going to read the first draft, and you will probably end up cutting a lot of the first draft to make the second draft. That is normal, most writers do that. But in that first draft are the nuggets that will make a great second draft. She says write about anything, school lunches, or family outings.
“Radio Station KFKD” represents the self-delusion suffered by all writers. In your right ear are the self-aggrandizements – I am the greatest; I am brilliant; and I am the best writer. In your left ear come the detractors – the self-loathing; all the mistakes you’ve made; and the self-doubt. These two sides constantly clamor at the writer in opposition. She provides a number of ideas to help writers overcome “KFKD.”
In addition to the advice on writing, she also includes several pieces on dealing with life’s adversities. She details sad moments in her life, and how writing helped her overcome those moments – the death of her father, a friend’s loss of a child, a friend’s death from cancer, and jealousy of other people’s success. She also discusses spirituality, and her Christian belief. But do not let that turn you off or on about the book! This is a book about writing with some Christian asides in between.
I found this to be a helpful book, an entertaining book, and book worth owning by someone who wants to be a writer. I have added it to my collection and refer to it when I get stuck. Good luck with your writing.
BGS 6/11/2008