bird by bird

Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird was a unique book that offered personal and professional insight on how to become a better writer. It was the perfect combination of instruction and entertainment. The messages in Bird by Bird were so affective because they came straight from Lamott's experience as a writer. The more I read, the more apparent it became that Lamott was not perfect. She grew stronger through criticism and failure. I also noticed that each chapter had a reoccurring setup. She started with a topic, told how it related to her in a humiliating way, and ended with how she became a stronger writer because of it. Like KFKD. The radio station, KFKD, described the mental distractions that kept her from writing and sent her spiraling. The way she described it made it sound like destructive daydreaming, which I can completely relate to. Almost every time I have written a paper, it took twice as long because my mind was thinking of twenty different things at the same time. Eventually I thought I would never finish, and it was the beginning of the end. She explained that the best way to beat KFKD was through a simple remedy. Step back from the project, close your eyes, and take deep breaths. "Gently bring your mind back to work." She related it to her life by explaining how she had a soar throat once and assumed it was trachael cancer. A student of hers (who happened to be a doctor) reassured her that it was not cancer, and told her to just drink some hot water. it worked. I believe that the best stories come from personal experiences. If you can draw on your past, the the words will pour onto the paper. That is exactly how I felt reading Lamott's Bird by Bird. Even though she insisted that you never get it right the first time, I bet she knew exactly what she wanted to say before she ever picked up the pencil.