Book 65 - Word by Word by Word

Title: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Author: Anne Lamott

Genre: writing reference book

Writing has always been one of those hobbies for me that I need to feel alive, but I also seem to avoid at all costs. I feel like writing today, I say to myself. And then almost in the same breath, a list of all the household chores and stale errands on my to-do list come and aggressively crowd out that initial thought. This book, though, was written for people like me. Below are the 3 main things I took away from this book - 3 things that are slowly setting me free.

1. The chance of being published in very slim

From the top, Lamott tells the reader that they probably won't get published. Even more than that, she states that "almost every single thing you hope publication will do for you is a fantasy". It won't fix you, it won't fill that whole, it won't immediately change those things about you that haunt you every single day of your life. Publishing isn't everything, she says, "but writing is."

2. Writing is it's own reward

After dashing all my dreams of being published and immediately becoming this ideal person with the life I dream of (*muffled sobbing*), Lamott tells us that "writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises", and that "the act of writing turns out to be its own reward". She recommends honing your writing like you would any other skill - with practice. "Do it as you would do scales on the piano", she says, and it will get easier, and you will get better.

3. Fuck perfectionism

The concept of shitty first drafts was definitely not pioneered by Lamott, but by linked shitty first drafts to the debilitation of perfectionism, she gets through to me. "If you top trying to control your mind so much," she says, "you'll have intuitive hunches". She talks about first drafts as the chance to let your inner child/writer tramp around, spew out all the crap that's in your head without trying to police it. You might find a stroke of brilliance on page 5, she says, that you wouldn't have written if you hadn't allowed yourself to barf up the first 4 pages.

Overall, Lamott is an excellent writer and a wonderful teacher. She delivers the lessons of this book in a personably, funny, and beautiful way, and is at once easy-going and soul-trembling. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to write anything. The main lesson, really, is let yourself fuck around with is and have fun - it's just writing, after all.

Rating: 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉/5