As I read through Bird by Bird, I kept on wondering, who is this Anne Lamott? What does she look like? Is she as unattractive as the way she described herself when she was a kid? Is her son –Sam—adopted or from a previous relationship? Yes these are indeed pretty personal questions that I have about this peculiar author. They are frivolous but they helped me to engage in reading the text.
This book is a writer’s handbook but mixed with elements of personal experience and self-help. (Hence the personal questions that I have about Anne Lamott.) As the reader, we get an in depth look into the life of a celebrated author. We see her habits (index cards), likes, dislikes, and sad and happy moments. I commend Anne Lamott for her efforts to help writer enthusiast like myself, but I am not sure if her writer’s version of self-help will help when it comes down to “the wire.” For example, it’s 5:30 AM Friday morning and I have a short story due… what do I do? However it doesn’t hurt to try some of her quirky methods to solving some common writer issues.
What stood out the most to me in this book is where Lamott writes:
One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to do things, to go places and explore. Another is that writing motivates you to look closely at life, at life as it lurches by and tramps around.
When I read this, I instantly thought of my study abroad trip to Milan, Italy this past July. As a requirement of the study abroad trip, we had to blog about our experiences—what we did, felt, saw, and ate-throughout the time we were there. What I thought of as simply writing (and annoying) turned out to be something so much more according to Anne Lamott. My blogging during my time in Italy motivated me to look at my life in a different country more closely. I have a new appreciation for jumbled blog entries and I also have an excuse to go to France!
My blogging in Italy has become a new precursor to my life as a writer. I am just starting out but I will force myself to write down things (maybe on index cards) like my memories as a kid growing up in New Jersey. As Lamott suggests, you never know when you might need those random writings for something greater.
Abby, great personal story about blogging in Italy. Perhaps one of these blog posts will turn into an interesting personal essay? Perhaps a short story? This is what's so cool about writing.
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