What
early experiences shaped Lamott's writing life?
Lamott's father
had great impact on her writing ideals. Her father set an example for her and
gave her a standard to work toward. I was
struck by his patient advice. The one
that I would apply to my own writing is: doing a little bit every day, like you
are doing piano scales. 'Do it by prearrangement, do it as a debt of honor.
Make a commitment to finish things.' (pg xxii) I especially feel that
'finishing' is something that would help me. I sometimes start off with the
enthusiasm of an idea and then get lost or discouraged when the image fades and
the words are not rolling of the tip of the pen. I think those moments are blocks to our
creativity, moments when we censor ourselves too much and we need to ride that
wave of doubt and continue through it without getting discouraged.
Short
assignments: How does the advice of taking it bird by bird fit with the writing
process?
This whole
chapter was inspiring. The idea of
taking it bit by bit, or 'bird by bird', is just what gets us through difficult
situations in writing or anything else in life.
The concept is clearly laid out by Lamott when she says, 'all I am going
to do ... is write one paragraph that sets the story,.. paint a picture in
words... figure out a one inch piece of my story to tell, one small scene, one
memory, one exchange.' (pg 18) Not only does Lamott break down the
longer process into a comforting series of smaller steps that lead us
progressively toward a goal, but she also indicates that we should focus on an
element that gets our attention or a detail of the story that we can hold in
our minds and describe for the reader.
Shitty
first drafts: what kind of attitude do you need to get writing done according
to Lamott?
Lamott tells us
to just get our ideas out of our heads and down on paper, no censorship or
perfect first drafts. This is freeing
and sensible. It makes the process
easier than if we expect to get an impressive first draft and squelch anything
that is less than complete. The image of
'pouring it (the draft) out and letting it romp all over the place, knowing
that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later' (pg 22) helped
me take a different view of first drafts.
Not only should we free ourselves of the inner criticism and take joy in
producing everything we have rolling around in our heads, we can discover some
lesser known element that was in there hiding with the more obvious images that
may bring to life something more subtle and unique.
Bird by Bird,
Lamott, Anne, Anchor Books, 1995
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