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 You Need Broccoli June 25, 2008
Titles are important. I probably wouldn't have read a book entitled Some Instructions on Writing and Life, but I was captivated by one titled Bird by Bird. What could such a book tell me about life and writing? Whatever it was, the title itself held the promise of something fun, a little offbeat, and yes, instructive too. I wasn't wrong. This, to me, is one of the best books I've ever read about writing. Although I'm not a fiction writer, Lamott's wit and wisdom applies to me and to anyone else who's ever felt the desire to put pen to paper...or fingers to keyboard.
Everyone who reads Bird by Bird will find something to appreciate. I like the way Lamott shares such wonderful advice while sharing experiences from her life. Her love for her father, Sam, and Pammy are there; so are her impressions from the nursing home, the Special Olympics, school lunches, and the death of a five-month-old child. Sad but funny is the experience with her agent who said, "I'm sorry." Read it and you'll see what I mean.
Are there secrets to writing? Yes and no. Lamott credits the "secret" to Natalie Goldberg who, when someone asked her for the best possible writing advice she had to offer, held up a yellow legal pad, pretended her fingers held a pen, and scribbled away. When Lamott's students ask her that question, she picks up a piece of paper and pantomimes scribbling. In other words, just do it. Oh, and when you're scribbling away, remember that "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor."
To give you an idea of Lamott's sense of humor, she quotes a friend who says that the first draft is the down draft because you focus on getting it down. The second is the up draft, the one that you fix it up. "And the third draft is dental draft, where you check very tooth, to see if it's loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy." Gotta love that!
For anyone tired of reading about dangling modifiers and pronoun agreement, read something refreshing like Bird by Bird. You'll be glad you did.
 A great read June 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Lamott tells it like it is. Don't expect any more than a shi**y first draft when writing a screenplay (one of the chapters is called "shi**y first drafts"). You polish it up on the second draft. Lamott is able to keep a writers expectations in check while also giving right motivation to finish a screenplay. I'd recommend this book to any writer.
Finally someone who tells it the way it really is!! June 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a Christian and and writer, and Anne Lamott is the best I have found out there writing on both subjects. You might not agree with something she says but if you stop, think about it, really let it sink in, she usually hits it right on the mark. Reading her book has truly inspired me and helped me to continue to write against all odds. I am going right now to download another Anne Lamott book to my kindle.
"Bird By Bird" sings! May 31, 2008
I have enjoyed the book and think it is very well written, easy to understand and remember its concepts.
Inspiring book that makes you want to write May 22, 2008
Reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird makes me laugh, think, look at the world differently, and inspires me to want to sit down and write. She talks about writing as a way of expressing the truth, or at least, the truth as we see it. And gives me the courage to look at my own strengths, weaknesses, struggles and to try to transform it beyond the maudlin, to see it as applied to the Bigger Picture, whatever that is for each of us. She is also unafraid to talk about God, and has a sense of humour about life's hard-knocks.
The good thing is also that she doesn't try to say that writing is easy in any way. It is a discipline, and there will be good times and bad times, like everything else in life. But she gives some helpful tips on how to get out of the rut, and ultimately, how not to take ourselves too seriously.
Even if you are not someone interested in writing, this book is a worthwhile read because there are many nuggets of truth about life in here.
And did I say she is funny too?
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