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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. - Ernest Hemingway

One writer I know tells me that he sits down every morning and says to himself nicely, “It’s not like you don’t have a choice, because you do—you can either type or kill yourself.�� - Anne Lamott

I have not always felt much like writing. My writer’s block, if that is what it was, and not merely the tardy development of some creative muscles, occupied a large portion of my youth. Writing papers for school was not merely a chore but a horror. I am not sure when chips were first broken from that large mass but I do recall actually having some fun as a high school sophomore, in otherwise weak report on Midsummer Night’s Dream, describing the play as “Shakespearean Slapstick.�� Writing did get easier, but was never less than challenging. I have had occasion to write a bit of this and that in my working life, but my employers have all been consistent in finding no use at all for what writing ability I may possess. That impulse found its way into letters, and, for disparate periods, journaling. I managed to crank out a newsletter for the baseball and softball teams I managed, but those days are well back in the rearview. For the last fifteen years or so, I have been cranking out reviews here on ŷ������, and seem to have found a rhythm. This is by no means automatic. Every one of these things, well, with one or two exceptions, takes real effort. But it is possible. It is not horrifying. I am comfortable in knowing that when I read a book I can definitely produce a review, not always a good review, but at least one that is not completely embarrassing. At the very least, it is not cadged from the kid sitting in front of me, or helped along by . I have developed my own system, an approach to how to go about it. I could probably keep at this until my ashes are strewn, but there is a piece of me that would like to take on something larger, something less reactive. And so the horror returns. It is quite clear that just because a person can write book reviews, that does not mean a person can necessarily write an actual book. My inner child begins to whine, “but I wanna, waaaaah.��

So here we are. No shortage of ideas, but massive supplies of anxiety, fear, ignorance, and self-doubt. What’s an aspiring writer to do? I may not be able to tamp down the emotional/psychological impediments, but I can try to address the ignorance piece. And one way to begin this process is to look for some advice. Which brings us to Anne Lamott. My Christmas list for 2014 included Stephen King’s On Writing and Santa came through, but his assistant, my elfin book goddess tossed in another, Lamott’s Bird by Bird (or as it might be referred to in some parts of my home borough, Boid by Boid) as well. I will be getting to King’s book in time. I had read BbB many years ago. My ambitions were different then. I expect there are times when certain books and certain readers converge. You can read a great book and not appreciate it because of where you might be in your life, but connect with it totally if you catch it at the right time. I may have incorporated a bit of this book way back when but now was definitely a propitious time for a refresher.


Ann Lamott - image from Salon

Of course, you will be at diverse stages in your writing interests, if you indeed have such urges at all. Not everyone does. There are many ways to transport the inner to the outer and writing may not offer the right means for most. But, as you are reading this, I expect there is a good chance you like to write, and maybe want to kick it up a notch. If so, Lamott’s book is a wonderful place to find a helping hand. In fact, it is a masterpiece of the genre, rich with wisdom, offering a host of ideas about how to get from not-writing to writing, in manageable, small pieces. One thing about this book is that it is very funny. I laughed out loud a lot while reading it, which can be awkward on crowded subway cars. Hopefully some of the techniques here will provide some bandages for the Hemingway quote at the top.

She offers advice on how to get moving when you are stuck, provides cheerful, uplifting support for trying times, and permission to allow your creative process to work through its issues, up to a point. She lets us all know that Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts, which is very, very good to know. There are chapters on plot, character, and dialogue. Some explanation of technique. Lamott is echoing in print the writing class she teaches.

The book is eminently quotable. My personal favorite, however second hand it might be, is

E.L. Doctorow once said that “writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.��

Although this does ignore the obvious, that in making that trip one already is aware of the destination, and the route, still, it gives me hope. Maybe an inability to see the entire picture from the beginning does not condemn my efforts, or yours, to failure. One concern I have is that whatever I write, as seems to be the case for every idea I have ever had, has already been done, probably multiple times, and probably better. Lamott has a quote for this:

Mark Twain said that Adam was the only man who, when he said a good thing, knew that nobody had said it before. Life is like a recycling center, where all the concerns and dramas of humankind get recycled back and forth across the universe. But what you have to offer is your own sensibility, maybe your own sense of humor or insider pathos or meaning. All of us can sing the same song, and there will still be four billion different renditions.

If you are considering writing more generically, as opposed to having a specific project in mind, Lamott offers a wealth of assignments designed to get the wheels turning. And for those who dabble in analyzing books, there is plenty of intel on structure, and the dynamics of story-telling, all of which are relevant to reviewers of books.

If you harbor no aspirations to writing, Bird by Bird offers a warm, illuminating and entertaining look at some of the things writers go through, provides some insight into the process of writing, and some of the challenges writers confront. If, however, you are a writer, aspire to be a writer, or indulge in analysis of writing, Bird by Bird will feel like a kindly mentor, an older, wiser sibling maybe, who can take you by the hand and offer a gentle nudge in the right direction. Your writing may or may not soar, but Lamott’s excellent tutorial will certainly add a few feathers to your wings. Maybe those will be all you need to finally take that step away from the nest and let your creativity take flight.

Review first posted �� 2/6/15

Publication date �� 1994



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Links to the author’s and pages. She does not appear to have her own site.