Books on Writing Part 2

This week's instructional book on writing was one I did not find myself. It was a pleasant surprise to find a required reading book in my creative writing class that was actually fun and helpful.

Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Much like King's On Writing, Bird by Bird is part autobiography, part instructional manual. Lamott is open about everything - her former drug addiction, her family and her son, as well as her writing process. With eye-catching chapter titles like: "Shitty First Drafts," "How Do You Know When You're Done?" and "Broccoli" - it was welcome to me amidst the stale, "if you do this, you get this," writing books of my past. Lamott covers everything from starting your first draft (ever) to seeking publication.

Some fantastic snippets:

"You sit down, I say. You try to sit down at approximately the same time every day. This is how you train your unconscious to kick in for you creatively. So you sit down at, say, nine every morning, or ten every night. You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on the computer and bring up the right file, and then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again. Then, with your fingers poised on the keyboard, you squint at an image that is forming in your mind -- a scene, a locale, a character, whatever -- and you try to quiet your mind so you can hear what that landscape or character has to say above the other voices in your mind."

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it."

"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 where you're going, 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."

You'll enjoy this book if: you've always wanted to write but never could get through that first draft, you like a personal connection with the author giving you advice, and/or you want a book on writing to take you on the journey from first draft to publication all under one cover.