This month I read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life—an honest, amusing, and personal book. I also watched the documentary film Freida Lee Mock made in 1999 called Bird by Bird with Annie: A Film Portrait of Writer Anne Lamott. Now I would like to meet Annie and have a personal discussion with her!
The book Bird by Bird is a 238-page treasure in six parts: Introduction, Writing, The Writing Frame of Mind, Help Along the Way, Publication—And the Other Reasons to Write, and The Last Class. In each part, Anne Lamott shares her personal views, experiences, and challenges, while offering guidance to aspiring novelists. The title of her book refers to her dad’s advice to her brother once when he was trying to accomplish a large project. It means to work on the first thing first and then on the next, taking one step at a time.
In the twenty-page introduction, Lamott discusses growing up in a family who read constantly. Her father was a productive and well-known writer who often invited his author friends over. Her father taught her to focus regularly on her writing and to read poetry. A poem she wrote in the second grade won an award. The award had a strong impact on her, as she had the experience of thinking “You are in print, therefore you exist.” She went on to write, publish, and teach writing, and produce this helpful book for aspiring writers.
In the longest chapter of her book, Part One: Writing, Lamott approaches the topic in the way she teaches her writing classes—with a sense of humor and a grounding in humility. She begins by saying that “good writing is about telling the truth.” She teaches her students to write the truth by having them write about their childhood and their lives. She recommends sitting down at the same time every day and writing to clear “a space for the writing voice.” She discusses her gratitude for good writing and suggests that the way to write well is to write what she calls “short assignments” and “shitty first drafts.” She talks about the dangers of perfectionism. She suggests that developing characters leads to the story and that the plot grows out of character. She explains the difference between writing good and bad dialogue. She expands on what she calls “Set Design.” Her section on “False Starts” lays out how often she thinks a story is going one way but as she writes it develops differently. She talks about the difficulty of responding to editors’ suggestions or requirements. She ends this chapter with “Knowing how you’re done.”
In Part Two: The Writing Frame of Mind, Lamott devotes twenty-seven pages to how authors need to approach their own minds and their own observations of others to communicate effectively with their readers. She emphasizes respect, reverence, and openness to other individuals and how they operate in the world. She also highlights the author’s need to be clear about her own moral compass while realizing that reality is complex. She also discusses the importance of intuition and quieting the critical rational mind. She ends this section with a witty discussion about how to process your feelings of jealousy in the face of other writers’ successes.
Lamott explains in “Part Three: Help Along the Way” the techniques she uses to support her writing. In the first section, she goes into detail about her use of index cards to jot down ideas, words, occurrences, or conversations that appear at unexpected times. She talks about always having index cards handy, in her back pants pocket, her wallet, or her purse. She demonstrates through personal vignettes how she has used her index cards. The next section explores “Calling Around” or reaching out to individuals who might be experts in something you would like to use in a story but feel uninformed about. She emphasizes that individuals are happy to share their knowledge. She illustrates how one call she made inspired her to write about wineries and grapes, talk to a friend to explore more about grapes, and in the process find out what she had set out to learn, the term “a wire hood.” The next section of Part 3, “Writing Groups” addresses writers’ desire to receive feedback on their work. Lamott discusses the pros and cons of writing conferences, classes, and support or critique groups. She suggests clever ways to present feedback and discusses the friendships and productive relationships that often are the result of participation in a writing group.
Lamott devotes twenty-five pages to a discussion of the pros and cons of publication in Part 4: Publication—And the Other Reasons to Write. She starts the chapter by saying, “Publication is not going to change your life or solve your problems…make you more confident or more beautiful, and it will probably not make you any richer.” She goes on to add, “In the meantime, let’s discuss some other reasons to write that may surprise a writer….” Annie goes on to explain how she wrote two books based on firsthand experiences of death saying, “I wrote for an audience of two whom I loved and respected, who loved and respected me.” Her goal was to write stories for the dying so they would know that their lives would live on in the text and be useful to others going through similar experiences.
The next short section of Part 4, addresses “Finding Your Own Voice.” Lamott mulls over her students’ tendency to copy the style of writers they have just read. She encourages aspiring writers to find their own voice by finding their own truth, stating “…the truth, or reality, is our home.” The next section of Part 4 is a discussion of the writer’s need to learn to be a giver: “You have to give from the deepest part of yourself…and the giving is going to have to be its own reward.” In the last section of Part 4, Lamott discusses the trials and tribulations of going through the publishing process and her personal reactions throughout the process.
Anne Lamott ends her book with Part 5: The Last Class. She summarizes what she likes to tell her students saying, “Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious.”
My reaction to Bird by Bird was one of delight, appreciation, and a sense of colleagueship with the author. I enjoyed her quirky sense of humor and approach to life. I appreciated her honesty, her examples, and her stories about her own and her students’ writing. And I felt like she was talking directly to me in an encouraging and supportive voice. My hope is that I will be able to write the truth as I know it and that my stories will resonate with potential readers throughout my writing career. Thank you, Annie Lamott!
My Writing Goals for 2023
Continue to work on my poetry.
My second book of poetry is scheduled for production in October 2023.
Submit poetry to contests/awards:
I submitted a poem for potential publication.
Finish, request feedback, and send my first novel out for review:
This novel is currently in draft shape. I need to rearrange the sections and fill in what is missing.
Continue to work on my other novels:
I must decide if I am going to submit one of these drafts to my critique group this year to get outside viewpoints on it.
Continue to develop a network of kindred spirits in the world of writing and publishing:
Boulder Writers Alliance: In August, we hosted the first Summer Social since the onset of COVID-19. Thirty people attended and had a wonderful time reconnecting and making new friends. We also had a vigorous discussion about Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger in our Writers Who Read group. I am also working on the schedule for our fall 2023 Poetry Circle.
Denver Woman’s Press Club: I read the newsletter and attended the Garden Party this week with a friend who would like to join the group. Amusingly, the entertainment team had gone to the trouble to have a DWPC Barbie created, dressed professionally, and boxed with the label “DWPC Barbie.”
Women Writing the West: I met with our critique group. This time their feedback included: “I liked seeing the scene from Jack’s point of view. I would have liked to see some inner conflict. I liked the part where he beats himself up about it.” “What is your timeline? Is it about the Depression? Does the Depression affect their need to make money?”
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers: I read the newsletter. I also listened to Mark Stevens’ podcast interview with Aimee K. Runyan who writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, A Bakery in Paris, focuses on social issues in Paris.
This year I plan to monetize my blog:
No progress on this goal this month.
Document my writing progress through my blog and post it on the seventh day of each month, one blog per month 2023:
Today is the seventh day of September which is the ninth month of the year. I am posting my ninth blog for 2023. Extreme weather in the US and abroad has been on the news lately. So far my area has been blessed with a temperate summer and just enough rain to keep the hillsides and the lawns green.
September 7th in Literary History
John Greenleaf Whittier, one of the “fireside poets” of New England in the nineteenth century was born on December 17, 1807, and died on September 7, 1892. Whittier was an abolitionist who spoke out against slavery.
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