Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Note: The book's title is not Bird and the author is not Bird by Anne Lamott. (Pause for sweet nerd laughter.) But I digress.

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.' You don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice about writing, or life, I have ever heard.

Lamott has published both fiction and nonfiction, with the nonfiction being her thoughts on spirituality from her relatively liberal Christian standpoint. (In this book, she refers to God as a she.) Her Christian books are supposed to be pretty good and Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, raves about her.

As is stated on the cover, this book gives "instructions on writing and life." The latter is not really directly addressed but is kinda sneaked, if you will, with writing metaphors. And her instructions are pretty good. She devotes sections to plot, character, writer's block, and such. She also delves into practical stuff involved with writing such as publication and small literary circles wherein writers edit and encourage each other. She repeated stresses the joy of writing for writing and not for the sole pursuit of publication.

I picked this book up because I figured if I decided to start writing more then I might as well be equipped. I picked up some good stuff from this book. For example, I liked learning that most authors don't know where their story is headed. Another good point Lamott offers is to invest heavily in your characters--let them "become themselves" and thus drive the plot.

However, there is a caveat to naive readers of this book. I don't think you can really teach someone to be a good writer. This book won't instantly make John Smith the next Hemingway. Not to say that this is what Lamott set out to do with this book but readers shouldn't expect this kind of transformation. On the other hand, I think this book can make someone more effective with the way they write and let them "find their voice" (whatever that means).

Another advantage to the book is that it is so far from a textbook. It's much more personal and sprinkled with Lamott's self-deprecating, usually dry, sometimes weird, humor. She doesn't claim to know the whole caboodle on writing so the text becomes more of her thoughts on writing and what has helped her. It's definitely worth checking out if you are at all interested in trying your hand at writing. Like I said, it won't transform anybody but it does have passages that will definitely resonate with you (e.g. the quote I included up top) as you sit down at your desk to write.