Writing seems to be a difficult task for everyone, including those who are already published and successful writers. When on is faced with having to write, whether it be for yourself or others, one enters into a state of panic, experiencing such things from writer's block to anxiety in regards to whether or not what you are writing is actually good. In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott allows for the reader to acknowledge that writing takes practice. As a writer, one should not worry about whether or not what is being written is good or acceptable, but instead you should write down what you feel and want to express. From there you can begin to develop what you've written, until you have arrived to a satisfactory final product.
I think all of Lamott's advice is extremely helpful, especially for those of us who encounter those extensive amounts of voices in our head. These voices limit us to be able to express ourselves, not only through writing, but in our daily lives. I also believe that of the most important tactics we can use to become better writer's is to sit down and write every day, just as Lamott suggests. Another interesting idea to note is how your characters are your most important focus, and how they will eventually unravel the plot themselves. Lamott goes into great depth on focusing on details around you, and on your past and present in order to develop your characters. Now I wonder, based on Lamott's advice and writing in regards to characters, whether or not she has changed certain aspects about the characters she writes about in her own book.
After taking in all of the information Lamott provides the reader with, and her great detail on trying to focus on yourself and taking those pieces of you and putting them on paper, I then come to ask myself ... Even though her instructions sound so encouraging and enticing, how can I begin to let go of my fears and just start applying her advice into my writing habits and everyday life?
Maxine, you pose an excellent question at the end. It is so challenging! I know from personal experience that it can be really hard and really scary to take the leap. I hope, in our class this semester, that we can all take this leap together! Let's talk more in class!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your choice of words in explaining that writing creatively takes a huge amount of perseverence. I can definitely relate, and an idea that you brought up that is paralleled through Bird by Bird is that no matter how east it is to say, sitting down and writing is a horrible step you just need to get out of the way to reach your final goal, and that is the one step we all need to figure out how to overcome. If only perseverence were so easy.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, like mentioned last class, that we procrastinate. I thought about this some more, and realized there's times when we just want to get something down, be it words or even a doodle. There's no reason to limit ourselves, and I think that's one of the main purposes of Lamott's book; to make us realize that we should write for ourselves, write what we need to let out in order to feel better or even worse. The point is to just find a way to let it out. It's like screaming, sometimes you don't want to, but sometimes you just have to in order to feel free.
ReplyDelete