Share a quote from Lamott (include page number) and your response.
For the most part I enjoyed Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, although I found the most interesting and quotable passages to be from the book's opening pages, particularly in her rather lengthy Introduction. I felt that her more generalized and "non-technical" comments regarding writing to be far more enlightening and meaningful, at least for me. (Without trying to be arrogant or a know-it-all, I think it is more difficult to teach students or write a book on "how" to write, as opposed to the more intriguing "why" we should write).
Perhaps that is why I responded strongly to the more autobiographical aspects of the book, because it's there that I think Lamott really articulates the virtues of a "writer's" life, or at the very least, a writer's sensibility. For example, when she writes that "there was a struggle going on inside me to find some sort of creative or spiritual or aesthetic way of seeing the world and organizing it in my head," (pg. xx) this beautifully conveys an almost universal struggle that all of us can relate to, no matter what level of literacy we may have obtained.
A few pages later, she writes "That thing you had to force yourself to do - the actual art of writing - turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward." (pg. xxvi) The higher truth that I think Lamott has stumbled upon is in discovering the power and strength of writing - the self-discovery, the need to dig deeper into one's self, and the drive for reflectiveness - these are all things that speak less to the quality of one's writing (which of course will vary wildly as between individuals) and more to the liberating and healing power of the writing itself.
This notion is reaffirmed on page 19 when she writes, "Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong." These are probably the strongest and most poignant words I have ever read about the creative process, and it can apply in equal force to all art, not just writing. More so than her "words of advice" to burgeoning writers, or her admittedly helpful hints about how to construct a story, or write dialogue, the true majesty of Lamott's book can be found in this one sentence, because it speaks to those most basic of human emotions and needs: to be seen, to be heard, to grow, to belong.
For the most part I enjoyed Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, although I found the most interesting and quotable passages to be from the book's opening pages, particularly in her rather lengthy Introduction. I felt that her more generalized and "non-technical" comments regarding writing to be far more enlightening and meaningful, at least for me. (Without trying to be arrogant or a know-it-all, I think it is more difficult to teach students or write a book on "how" to write, as opposed to the more intriguing "why" we should write).
Perhaps that is why I responded strongly to the more autobiographical aspects of the book, because it's there that I think Lamott really articulates the virtues of a "writer's" life, or at the very least, a writer's sensibility. For example, when she writes that "there was a struggle going on inside me to find some sort of creative or spiritual or aesthetic way of seeing the world and organizing it in my head," (pg. xx) this beautifully conveys an almost universal struggle that all of us can relate to, no matter what level of literacy we may have obtained.
A few pages later, she writes "That thing you had to force yourself to do - the actual art of writing - turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward." (pg. xxvi) The higher truth that I think Lamott has stumbled upon is in discovering the power and strength of writing - the self-discovery, the need to dig deeper into one's self, and the drive for reflectiveness - these are all things that speak less to the quality of one's writing (which of course will vary wildly as between individuals) and more to the liberating and healing power of the writing itself.
This notion is reaffirmed on page 19 when she writes, "Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong." These are probably the strongest and most poignant words I have ever read about the creative process, and it can apply in equal force to all art, not just writing. More so than her "words of advice" to burgeoning writers, or her admittedly helpful hints about how to construct a story, or write dialogue, the true majesty of Lamott's book can be found in this one sentence, because it speaks to those most basic of human emotions and needs: to be seen, to be heard, to grow, to belong.
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