Bird by Bird

This title is available in a more recent version here.

Thirty years ago, my ten-year-old elder brother was attempting to finish a paper about birds that he had been given three months to complete. It was due the next day. He stood at the kitchen table, on the verge of tears, surrounded by unopened books on birds, binder paper, and pencils in our family cottage in Bolinas. He was paralyzed by the enormity of the work at him. My father then took a seat next to him, encircled my brother's shoulder with his arm, and spoke. "Friend, bird by bird." Simply approach it bird by bird."

Keeping this fundamental advice in mind at all times, Anne Lamott comes back to provide us with a brand-new gift: a detailed manual on both writing and running a writer's life. From "Getting Started" and "Short Assignments" to "False Starts" and "How Do You Know When You're Done," and all the way through "Shitty First Drafts," "Character," "Plot," and "Dialogue," Lamott imparts knowledge, inspires, and encourages. She talks about "publication," "writing groups," and "writers block." She is one of the funniest people alive, and her honesty is bracing.

This book is for you if you've ever pondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, or what your school lunches revealed about your parents' true nature. When it comes to faith, love, and grace as well as suffering, jealously, and fear, Lamott encourages you to remain open-minded and then provides guidance on how to endure. And she always looks at the art of life from the perspective of the artist's life.