On Vox: Book 8 million of the year
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott
So I failed miserably on keeping up with everything I read this past semester. No worries, it would have bored you. Anyways I am picking back up with this book I went through today. For a writer, it is wonderful, witty and refreshingly candid. Highly recommended. Some favorite quotes:
He taught us to be bold and original and let ourselves makes mistakes...
To be engrossed by something outside ourselves is a powerful antidote for the rational mind, the mind that so frequently has its head up its own ass--seeing things in such a narrow and darkly narcissistic way that it presents a colo-rectal theology, offering hope to no one.
Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly. There will be many mistakes, many things to take out and others that need to be added. You just aren't always going to make the right decision.
...you don't always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it, too.
So write a book back...to whoever it is who most made you want to write, whose work you most love to read. Make it as good as you can.
Tell the truth as you understand it. If you're a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act--truth is always subversive.
Originally posted on kristinj.vox.com