Craft Talk: Bird by Bird
what do birds have to do with writing - life?!?
If you’re a writer, you’ve undoubtedly heard this Ann Lamott wisdom many times:
“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.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
No matter your project, this simple advice is always prescient and always worth revisiting.
If you are writing a short story, remember: bird by bird
If you are writing a novel, remember: bird by bird
(aka: word by word!)
As for life:
If you are hanging pictures on a wall, painting your bedroom, writing a report, want your dog to stop jumping on company, need a medical diagnosis, navigating a foreign country: BIRD BY BIRD.
We either procrastinate or start with great zeal. But all too quickly, when the zeal has worn off and we get to that “muddy middle,” we become overwhelmed, have no idea what’s supposed to happen next, and our brain - which is there to protect us - can be most unhelpful.
And we quit, never fully realizing the greatness we could have created! (Or the bedroom wall that could a beautiful sailcloth cream instead of the sage green you’re entirely sick of).
If you are creating, you will feel like an imposter. It’s a guarantee. But listen carefully: This is a lie.
For some reason, my imposter sounds like Gilbert Blythe saying (with a laugh in his voice), “Anne Shirley, what the heck are you doing?”
And I love Gilbert Blythe. (This mirth is the scene where he rows by and rescues Anne after she has been reenacting The Lady of Shalott and her canoe springs a leak).
He is only teasing Anne. But after Gilbert, my inner imposter has slightly more of an edge.
So Gilbert, your brain, sometimes needs you to say, “LISTEN - BIRD BY BIRD, DUDE!”
Bird by Bird is a phenomenal book (97, 706 ratings on Goodreads!) and continues to rank as my #1 writing book. It’s up there for life, too.
It was given to me many years ago by my husband’s former English teacher (after I had quietly and unconfidently confessed I was writing a book…the terror).
The next day I found the book in my mailbox. It was red and missing it’s paper cover. It was very well used, and had handwritten notes, underlined passages, and highlighted descriptions throughout, as if she had taught from it or referred to it often to write her own stories and poems. What a treasure!
BIRD BY BIRD: SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE by Anne Lamott.
Interesting. Birds. Writing. Life.
To write, one must put one word after another. And then another and another.
To write, you must simply open the laptop and begin. Or scratch something out on paper.
Day by day, a word become a sentence. Sentences become paragraphs, which become chapters. Which become - a story!
To live, to become, one must do the same.
Break the big into small, attainable steps.
One small thing. And then another and another.
Tomorrow, repeat.
Are you procrastinating hanging an assortment of picture frames on the wall?
Break the project down into teeny tiny steps.
Day one: FIND THE HAMMER
Day two: drive to the store and buy the nails
Keep going.
In Atomic Habits by James Clear (another favorite) writes:
"All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.”
It’s the smallest, daily habits that makes dreams come true.
Find the hammer.
Open the Google doc.
Type a title.
Tomorrow, write for five minutes.
The next day, do it again.
And again and again.
Pause to acknowledge what you have done. BRAVO!
I’ll leave you with my painting of a bird:
Bird by bird, my friends.
Happy September! A time of year where I like to take stock of where I’m going…
What are you up to? What “Bird by Bird” projects do you have going? I would love to hear.
Amy
p.s. I made a title change to the newsletter to reflect what this is all about. I hope it makes you feel…lit!
Currently:
Reading: THESE PRECIOUS DAYS: ESSAYS by Ann Patchett. Oh, she’s so good.
Viet Thanh Nguyen: From The New Yorker: Read this and weep. My brother-in-law is a Vietnamese refugee; it hits home.
Thank you, Toadstool Bookshop: I had a great visit in Peterborough, NH last Saturday. Thank you for coming to see me. Sy Montgomery will be presenting 9/19/2023, featuring her new book about TURTLES!
Booking School Visits! If you are in the Utah or Phoenix area and would like a school visit, I’m headed west around January 12th. Please be in touch or pass this message along to your UT/AZ friends, teachers, bookstore owners, librarians...
Empty Nest: My youngest is on Ocean Classroom for a semester, and I’m driving my oldest to the airport today as she heads to Cambridge University in England. I’ve decided I will read many books so I won’t be so sad with all the children gone…have you got reading suggestions for me???
