Bird by Bird

“Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can’t - and, in fact you’re not supposed to - know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing.” - Anne Lamott

I haven't been doing much writing lately. The challenge of sitting down to write is not new to me but it’s been more challenging than usual. There is so much going on these days. In the world. In America. In my family. Not only has it been hard to find the time to write, it’s been hard to find the motivation. Eventually I managed to find the time and motivation to do some reading. I just finished another book on writing, Bird by Bird by author Anne Lamott.

I discovered this book awhile ago while browsing in a bookstore. The back cover has a quotation from the book which explains where she got the title from. She tells a childhood story about her brother and father. Her brother was in a panic as he had waited until the last minute to begin a book report on birds. I can relate. Immobilized and almost in tears because of the task at hand, her father offered the following advice to her brother, “Bird by bird buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” That grabbed my interest so I picked it up. Until now it's been sitting on my shelf with a number of other unread books.

The book is divided into four parts, Writing, The Writing Frame of Mind, Help Along the Way, and Publication - And Other Reasons to Write. The first two parts take up the majority of the book.

I found the section on writing to be the most interesting and the most helpful. In it she stresses the importance of giving yourself short assignments and writing first drafts. She explains that most first drafts are pretty bad but that’s okay. A first draft gives you a starting point, something to work with. She also talks about how sometimes you won’t get to the good stuff until you’re three or four pages in. Throughout the rest of the section she also gives advice on character, plot, dialogue, as well as other things of concern to anyone who wants to write.

A lot of the advice is similar to advice I’ve read in other books on writing. But it’s presented in different ways from other authors. She shares both her writing experiences and her experiences teaching writing. Her stories help to illustrate her advice. As for some of the advice not being new to me, it didn’t bother me. I found that it was a helpful review. Overall I found the book to be helpful and motivating.


Since finishing the book I’ve been doing some writing. I’ve written some book reviews for Goodreads, added some words to one of my stories in progress, and written this blog. Notes got turned into drafts, drafts got turned into finished things. It was a good reminder that you can’t wait to be motivated. One of the things I love about writing is discovering new things as I write. But that doesn’t happen unless I focus and write. Even if it’s not as much as I’d like I realize that I have to make the time. Even in the most challenging of times.