My impression of Bird by Bird was that it was either a) a dry, instruction manual on the proper etiquette of creative writing or b) a colorful bird identification guide. I was surprised when I became grappled and engrossed by Lamott's style of writing, and I found myself finishing the book many days in advance because of how much I actually enjoyed reading it.
I find that Lamott has put a lot of extensively deep, meditative thought in how she presented her technique. She expressed her stylistic pattern through the use of vibrantly intuitive metaphors and analogies. Instead of saying "Don't be too hard on yourself" she said "[...] awareness is learning to keep yourself company. And then learn to be more compassionate company, as if you were someone you were fond of and wish to encourage" (31). Instead of merely suggesting that first drafts should be expanded upon through improvisation, she muses, "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." (39) This provides a much needed shield between one's ego and one's work, because far too often do we find ourselves being overly harsh critics towards none other than ourselves.
Furthermore, many of Lamott's musings (whether inadvertent or not) serve as powerful analogies for how one should live their life. The theme of compassion is fairly relevant in this novel, whether it is towards other people, yourself, or your moral position, compassion seems to be Lamott's main inspiring factor:
"Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can't do that if you're not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you're going to get them wrong." (97)
I also found some 'Daoist' tendencies in Bird by Bird:
"I started to read and within a page came upon this beautiful passage: 'The Gulf Stream will flow through a straw provided the straw is aligned to the Gulf Stream, and not at cross purposes with it[...]'"(p121)
Lamott seems to draw a lot of her inspiration from intuitive reasoning, which I can strongly agree with. She uses a lot of improvising and doing what feels right in her work, which is good, because she just lets her material come naturally to her. It is comforting to read that creative writing, as a process, is something that comes naturally to the author, and isn't a laborious task of mining for ideas.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Bird by Bird and learned much from it, both about writing and otherwise.
I agree with Arta when he says that Lamott has used a variety of metaphors and analogies to convey her message. Additionally, I think these metaphors help to, as Lamott herself put it, express abstract concepts in tangible terms. Furthermore, I also found that Lamott refers to her own spirituality and Christian faith, along with Daoist principles, as Arta states, to both engage the readers on a deeper level as well as to help that readers internalize foreign ideas. Overall, I think Arta hit the nail on the head with his take on Lamott's style.
ReplyDeleteArta, First of all, I love the idea of an etiquette guide for creative writing. Like a Miss Manners, but for writing. Genius. Maybe you can work on that this semester. :)
ReplyDeleteYou've gleaned some great things for the book. Are there any ideas you disagreed with? Anything you thought she should have played up more or downplayed? good post!