Book Review: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont

Review by Jeanette O'Hagan


Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird is considered a classic writing craft book and has inspired a generation of writers. Like most popular books, it gets mixed reviews on Goodreads (though an over all positive rating). It is, perhaps, one of those books you love - or hate.

“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”  Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

The Book:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and LifeAnne Lamott
Anchor Books: 1995
Available at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/

The Author:

Anne Lamott is an American novelist and non-fiction writer.  She writes about love and loss in her novels and explores parenthood, flaws, faith, and the craft of writing in her non-fiction with a self-effacing and gritty humour.

My thoughts:

I was a little unsure when I first started reading Bird by Bird. Lamott starts with an autobiographical recounting of growing up with her writer father and his bohemian writer friends, of her own first attempts at writing a hopelessly flawed short story titled Arnold - and her search for publication, which only came after writing about her father's death.  Like Stephen King's On Writing, the writing tips or instruction in Bird by Bird are woven with a strong autobiographical thread - which is perhaps its strength and also its weakness.

Lamott's tone is conversational. She addresses a range of issues that writers face, in part as a report of what she teaches her students and how they react to her teachings (often with horror), in part a direct conversation with the reader, in part flights of creative writing and almost stream of consciousness flourishes that can be wickedly humorous or deeply moving or even at times mildly annoying (perhaps depending on one's mood and experience). 

If you are looking for a paint-by-numbers or follow-the-formula approach to writing - you won't find it here. Lamott's process is deeply intuitive and largely 'pantsting' and highly creative. And the book is as much, or more, about what it means to be a writer, the writing life, as it about nutting out a perfectly structured plot or tracing a compelling character arc. As important as plot structure and character arcs, internal wounds and mirror moments may be - I found myself resonating to Bird by Bird in a deeper way than more 'how-to' writing books (which often detail the 'one' way to do things that only the writer has discovered). 

There are definitely gems of advice and insight in Lamott's musings - some of which may have become truisms over time. She deals with issues of perfectionism, insecurities, shitty first drafts, writers block, the need to fill the creative well and to be kind to our writerly selves, as well how to discover our characters (like an image emerging from Polaroid photo), go deep into the pain, discovering one's voice, and the proper weight of publication. Above all, she reminds us that the reward of writing is not outward accolades, but the joys (and pains) of writing itself. And through it all, she is brutally honest and bitingly funny. And here and there, she gives us poignant glimpses of faith and grace.

I found Anne Lamott and Bird by Bird  a refreshing and inspiring read.

*****



Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users. She has published numerous short stories, poems, two novellas and her debut novel, Akrad's Children. Find her on Facebook or at her webpages Jeanette O'Hagan Writes or Jenny's Thread.

Favourite Writing Craft Book - Jo-Anne Berthelsen

Bird by Bird: Some instructions on writing and life by Anne Lamott

Originally published by Anchor Books (Random  House) 1994

Aust/NZ edition Scribe Publications 2008

What inspired you to read this book?

Jo-Anne: I came across Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird by accident, while browsing in a large bookstore around six years ago, and was immediately intrigued by its title. Why call a book about writing Bird by Bird? After reading the explanation on the back cover, I became even more intrigued. Anne Lamott sounded so original and quirky—I had never heard of her and wanted to find out more. And when I did, I was not disappointed. In this memoir-cum-writing instruction book, Anne Lamott manages to combine honest glimpses into her own slightly crazy life with wonderful lessons on key aspects of writing in a way that is witty, insightful, sad, colourful, disarming and self-deprecating—but, above all, never boring.

How has this writing craft book helped you to improve your writing?

Jo-Anne:  It’s hard to be brief here, but I’ll focus on two main ways.

Firstly, I felt validated as an author by so much of what Anne Lamott wrote about her approach to writing—and this gave me more confidence that I was on the right track myself. I had written two or three novels by the time I discovered Bird by Bird but still had so many questions about myself as an author. For example, I wondered if it was ‘okay’ to go with what my characters seemed to want to do and say. Then I read the following in Anne Lamott’s chapter on ‘Plot’ and loved it:

Over and over I feel as if my characters know who they are, and what happens to them, and where they have been and where they will go, and what they are capable of doing, but they need me to write it down for them because their handwriting is so bad. (p 60)

Secondly, her encouragement to be honest in what I produced helped me to write with more integrity. For example, her chapter entitled ‘Character’ challenged me to treat my own characters with more respect:

You make up your character, partly from experience, partly out of the thin air of the subconscious, and you need to feel committed to the exact truth about them, even though you are making them up.  ... Just don’t pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don’t. Stay open to them. It’s teatime and all the dolls are at the table. Listen. It’s that simple. (p 52)

Why would you recommend this book to other writers?

Jo-Anne:  Bird by Bird includes great information not only on the ‘how to’ of writing a novel or memoir but also on how to be a writer. There are many excellent chapters in Part One, entitled  ‘Writing’, on matters such as first drafts, plot, character, setting and dialogue. But Part Two, ‘The Writing Mind’, contains even more gold, in my opinion, on topics such as the moral point of view, overcoming self-doubt, and dealing with jealousy—things that can cripple us as authors. Parts Three and Four also offer many wise suggestions in areas such as obtaining help from others, finding your voice and handling publication.  

Who do you believe would benefit the most from reading and studying this book?

Jo-Anne:  The back cover states that Bird by Bird is for both ‘serious writers and writers-to-be’—and I agree, although I do think those a little further into their writing journey might benefit most.

Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey. Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and four grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.

Such an interesting bunch! - Jo-Anne Berthelsen

Authors are a varied and intriguing lot, I have decided. I have met many in person at writing conferences, seminars and book events, as well as online. And, after all, I am one of them! Recently, I saw afresh what a vast mixture of writing approaches and writing goals we have when I set myself the task of reading or re-reading several well-known books on writing. Out of all this, I came to what may well be some obvious conclusions.

Firstly, there is no one right road towards producing that literary masterpiece. There may be some things authors all need to do, such as drawing the reader on with that exciting narrative arc or creating characters readers care about—but how we do this will vary. For example, some of us may agree with Stephen King’s views on plotting:

I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless ... and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible. (On Writing: A memoir of the craft p 163)

Some may also relate to Anne Lamott ‘s thoughts about characterisation:

Just don’t pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don’t stay open to them. It’s teatime and all the dolls are at the table. Listen. It’s that simple. (Bird by Bird p 53)

But some of us, on the other hand, may revel in using those detailed plotting timelines and in-depth character studies or clarifying our thoughts via complex mind maps or some version of Randy Ingermanson’s ‘snowflake method’. We are all different. And that’s okay. That’s how God intended it to be.

I am bearing all this in mind as I prepare my upcoming workshop on memoir writing for the Christian Writers’ Conference to be held next month (see http://www.christianwritersconference.dx.am/). Yes, I plan to discuss the importance of working out the theme and structure of that memoir before we start—at least to some degree. But I shy away from advocating that authors follow one narrow path in it all. I hate being squeezed into any mould myself. And I am not even totally convinced about those rigid delineations between different genres at times. Where does biography become memoir or vice versa, for example? Where does memoir become ‘creative fiction’ when our memory might fail us or our perception of certain events differs from others’? There is a place for fluidity even here, in my opinion.

Secondly, we have different goals in choosing to write. Yes, we may agree we want to provide readers with good, uplifting fiction or non-fiction that honours God. We may all even hope to make a tiny profit in the process! But, while many of us will desire to encourage our readers in some way and perhaps even challenge or inspire them, others will aim simply to entertain and enable readers to relax a little. We may each also have underlying, even subconscious motives in doing what we do, I believe, which will usually colour our own unique writing voice. It may be that we feel we have to write—that this is what we were created to do and what we find most fulfilling. It may be that as we write, we are making sense of our lives. It may even be that, as we write, we are finding ourselves.

And that’s part of what makes it all so interesting, don’t you agree?

Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey. Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and four grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.