Reflection On Bird By Bird
The Ten Things I learned while reading this Book
When learning to write and throughout writing experiences many individuals can lose hope and allow their nerves get the best of them. I have by no means been the greatest writer or even believed in my writing abilities; however, when reading Anne Lamott’s book, “Bird by Bird”, I realized many other people may feel the same way. “Bird by Bird” educated me and its‘other readers, to make the most of our writing abilities. The book, first made me realize to never expect greatness straight away. Lamott states, “they might be good someday if they just keep the faith and keep practicing” (Lamott xxix). This permitted me to recognize the fact that writing is a learning experience. Writing should be taken one step at a time and in order to start writing, the …show more content…
When I am writing I struggle to make my first draft as close to perfect as possible, but through Anne Lamott’s description of her writing process, I began to see that first drafts are never near perfect. In the book, Lamotts describes “I sit down in the morning and reread the work I did the day before” (Lamott 56). This taught me to always reread my work as I put it down on the paper, and writing a paper always takes more than one day to finish. With a new day, I could realize mistakes made the day before or read something that I wrote that became confusing over time. Re-writing and reconstructing is vital in the writing process. I understood this process to be vital when Lamott explains, “One morning I took my three hundred page manuscript and began to lay it down on the floor, section by section. I put a two-page scene here, a ten page passage there” (Lamott 87). When all is said and done, I should allow an individual close to me to reread my first draft. This individual should be harsh on my writing, but also not rip my feelings to shreds. I must pick the individual who is willing to read my work carefully, as
When learning to write and throughout writing experiences many individuals can lose hope and allow their nerves get the best of them. I have by no means been the greatest writer or even believed in my writing abilities; however, when reading Anne Lamott’s book, “Bird by Bird”, I realized many other people may feel the same way. “Bird by Bird” educated me and its‘other readers, to make the most of our writing abilities. The book, first made me realize to never expect greatness straight away. Lamott states, “they might be good someday if they just keep the faith and keep practicing” (Lamott xxix). This permitted me to recognize the fact that writing is a learning experience. Writing should be taken one step at a time and in order to start writing, the …show more content…
When I am writing I struggle to make my first draft as close to perfect as possible, but through Anne Lamott’s description of her writing process, I began to see that first drafts are never near perfect. In the book, Lamotts describes “I sit down in the morning and reread the work I did the day before” (Lamott 56). This taught me to always reread my work as I put it down on the paper, and writing a paper always takes more than one day to finish. With a new day, I could realize mistakes made the day before or read something that I wrote that became confusing over time. Re-writing and reconstructing is vital in the writing process. I understood this process to be vital when Lamott explains, “One morning I took my three hundred page manuscript and began to lay it down on the floor, section by section. I put a two-page scene here, a ten page passage there” (Lamott 87). When all is said and done, I should allow an individual close to me to reread my first draft. This individual should be harsh on my writing, but also not rip my feelings to shreds. I must pick the individual who is willing to read my work carefully, as