Thursday, January 31, 2013

Bird by Bird Wrap-Up

The sticky notes are wherever I underlined...yup, this book is something!


Thank goodness for the blogging community: once I say I'm going to do a thing, there are suddenly people who expect me to do it!  In the midst of a busy month, I definitely would have swept Bird by Bird off to the side once again, and then I would have missed gems like this one:

“Think of how many times you have opened a book, read one line, and said, “Yes!”  And I want to give people that feeling, too, of connection, communion.” (p. 204)

 I found that, with quotes like this one, this book resonated more with me as a reader than as a writer.  Anne Lamott does an exceptional job of conveying the value of words.  She talks about them as a writer, as someone who wants to create words that have that kind of value: 

“That is what I’m talking about: you want your readers’ eye-motes to go click! with recognition as they begin to understand one of your characters, but you probably won’t be able to present a character that recognizable if you do not first have self-compassion.” (p. 98)

As of yet, I don't think I've written anything that would cause any clicking of the eye-motes.  But that doesn't mean I didn't find this book to be valuable to my writing.  Lamott offers a mix of big ideas about writing and nuts-and-bolts advice, some of which tickled just the right part of my brain to make me entirely re-think my WiP!  In particular, this idea, which Lamott returned to several times, really grabbed me: 

“If you find that you start a number of stories or pieces that you don’t ever bother finishing, that you lose interest or faith in them along the way, it may be that there is nothing at their center about which you care passionately.  You need to put yourself at their center, you and what you believe to be true or right.  The core, ethical concepts in which you most passionately believe are the language in which you are writing.” (p. 103)
 

I realized that this was true of much of my WiP.  So I have a second bunch of orange sticky notes, things that came to me one after the other after the other--things I believe, realizations I've had over the course of my life that feel like my stories to tell.  And I thought about my characters, and it turns out I was trying to put them into the wrong story.  I mean, wildly wrong.  Like, one of my narrators/MCs might not even be a character any more.  But the speed with which the new story fell into place makes me think I'm actually on the right track.  

Overall, I don't think I feel as completely in thrall to Bird by Bird as some people do.  But there were dozens of moments that leapt out at me, that spoke to me as a reader or a writer, and I'm really glad I stuck with it this time.  

And, speaking of the awesome community that got me to actually read this, check out these posts by my blog pals, giving their takes on Bird By Bird:

Do you have something to say about Bird by Bird?  Post a link in the comments and I'll add you to the list!
 
And don't forget: my February Compliment Challenge starts tomorrow!  Please join in and tell someone why they're awesome tomorrow!
 

10 comments:

  1. *hides face* I was going to do this but all of a sudden it's the END of January and...ahhh! Hearing you talk about it makes me quite sure I need to read it though--I'm just afraid it might not be until summer. :( Or maybe I'll be awesome and read it this month--we shall see.

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    1. That happens--I mean, look at me, I'm just now responding to every blog comment I've gotten in the last two weeks! Sometimes things just get away from you...oh well! Hope you enjoy BBB when you get to it!

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  2. Wow! That's a lot of sticky notes! I have an aversion to marking up books (which is stupid when it's a craft book, I know), so I scribbled my favourite passages down in a notebook instead. I think where BIRD BY BIRD helped me the most was to give me a more realistic view of the writing process as a whole and how I should be approaching it. I really like that last quote you posted as well.

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    1. I'm really interested now to read some other craft books and see how they compare. I think you're right that this one is more about big picture process ideas, so I want to pick up one that's more about actually improving writing once I've got something on the page.

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  3. Ooh, sticky notes! I agree about making blog commitments - it's a great way to stick to your goals. Thanks for putting this idea out there!

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    1. Sticky notes: a teacher's most beloved tool. I can't go anywhere without sticky notes any more :)

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  4. Ok, see, this is the third BxB post I've read lately - now i'm going to have to jump on the bandwagon and read. LOVE all your stickies!

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  5. That quote about writing something you feel passionate about really resonates with me. When we were waiting in line to meet Julie Andrews (!!!), you mentioned this and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I think writing what you are most passionate about will come through in your writing and make it that much better. Definitely something to really keep at the centre of my planning and writing. :)

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    1. Yeah, well, we'll see if that translates into the 5K/day I'm shooting for during my kids' winter break this week! Wish me luck :)

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