Final Review: Bird by Bird

After much delay I finished reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. The full title of the book is actually Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life and, true to the title, in the final chapters of the book Lamott discusses both writing and how to cope with life.

This partial list of chapter titles and quotes from those chapters provide some glimpses into Lamott's wisdom on the subject of writing:

Looking Around - " Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding meaning therein."

Jealousy - "Jealousy is such a direct attack on whatever measure of confidence you've been able to muster.  But if you continue to write, you are probably going to have to deal with it, because some wonderful, dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry un-deserving writers you know..."

Calling Around - "There are an enormous number of people out there with invaluable information to share with you, and all you have to do is pick up the phone."

Writing Groups - "...an occupational hazard of writing is that you'll have bad days. You feel not totally alone but also that everyone else is at a party. But if you talk to other people who write, you remember that this feeling is part of the process, that it's inevitable."

But for all the great writing advice Lamott has to offer, in the end  it was her thoughts on life that had the most impact on me. I leave you with one passage I found particularly profound:

"I remind myself nearly every day of something a doctor told me six months before my friend Pammy died. This was a doctor who always game me straight answers. When I called on this one particular night, I was hoping she could put a positive slant on some distressing developments. She couldn't, but she said something that changed by life. "Watch her carefully right now," she said, " because she's teaching you how to live." 

I remind myself of this when I cannot get any work done: to live as if I am dying, because the truth is we are all terminal on the bus. To live as if we are dying gives us a chance to experience some real presence."

Bird by Bird Review - Part 2

In Part 1 of my review of Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott I relayed a bit of her wisdom on overcoming the negative emotions that so often plague writers. Another subject in Lamott's book that stood out to me is the necessity of having honest, passionate beliefs at the core of one's writing. Here is a sample of her thoughts on the subject:

"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...

...you have to believe in your position, or nothing will be driving your work. If you don't believe in what you are saying, there is no point in saying it. You might as well call it a day and go bowling."

Lamott's words echo what I read years ago in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. McCloud, if I remember correctly, said something to the effect that a comic book artist may have all the technical ability in the world, but if he doesn't have a story to tell (a purpose, a message, a passion) then he will not be able to achieve success. Both Lamott's and McCloud's statements cause me to search my soul, especially in light of my decreased activity here (have you noticed I haven't been posting as much?) Still, I believe I have passion in my heart for the Spacemouse 9 project despite my snail's pace. Lamott's advice is helpful, but perhaps more research on self-motivation for writers would spur me to speed up production.

Bird by Bird Review - Part 1

It has been a hectic month, but I did manage to begin reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. The title of the book comes from an incident in Lamott's childhood in which her older brother, trying to get a report on birds written for school, was advised by Lamott's father: "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." Lamott's advice to writers echos that of her father. She recommends tackling writing projects one small piece at a time as the best way to overcome the emotions that hinder writers from producing.

To illustrate, here is a sample of her advice:

"The first useful concept is the idea of short assignments.  Often when you sit down to write, what you have in mind is an autobiographical novel... or a play about the immigrant experience... But this is like trying to scale a glacier.  It's hard to get your footing... Then your mental illnesses arrive at the desk like your sickest most secretive relatives. ...as the panic mounts and the jungle drums begin beating and I realize the well has run dry  ...I finally notice the one-inch picture frame that I put on my desk to remind me of short assignments. It reminds me that all I have to do is write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame. This is all I have to bite off for the time being." 

I think that is great advice, at least for me personally. It is so easy to become stagnant in the face of self-doubt and the enormity of the writing task at hand.

Look for more about Bird by Bird in coming days...

Reading List Addition

A friend of mine who is a writer highly recommends the book Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She says it is one of the best books she has read on the ups and downs of becoming a writer. Last week I obtained a copy for myself. I hope to read it soon. In advance, I read some reviews of the book. One reviewer had this to say:

"I used to write and then I took some time away from it, and someone suggested this book to me to inspire me. It did exactly the opposite. Lamott makes writing sound like passing a kidney stone..." 

On a more positive note, another reviewer said:

"This may be the single best book I have ever read in my entire life. It is helping me get my work done, on a daily basis; it helped me see where I do fit in life (my niche); and it helped me see how utterly not alone I am. It's a wonderful thing."

Here's hoping my read falls in line with the second reviewer and not the first. ;) The image above is art by M. C. Escher, Sun and Moon, 1948.

King, Strunk, and White

Following the advice of Stephen King, I read Strunk and White’s Elements of Style this week.  I expected an exhaustive work on the technical aspects of writing, but at 26 pages the writing guide only scratches the surface of the subject.  The book consists of a mere 18 rules of usage and composition followed by three sections which cover common grammar mistakes.

Reading Elements of Style brings into focus the influence the book has on Stephen King. The following quotes from Elements closely correspond to what King advocates in his own book on writing:

“The habitual use of the active voice, however, makes for forcible writing. This is true not only in narrative principally concerned with action, but in writing of any kind.”

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”

While I found the information in Elements of Style useful, I think following its guidelines to the letter would tend to result in a somewhat dry writing style. Then again, Stephen King, great advocate of the book, has a writing style that is anything but dry. Does he bend the rules a bit perhaps? ;)

Ray Bradbury on Writing

Over the holidays I managed to finish reading Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing. The book consists of  a series of essays which originally appeared in other publications. Having just read Stephen King's On Writing, I was struck by the fact that both Bradbury and King have strong beliefs about how stories "write themselves", flowing naturally out of character development. Here are some quotes by Bradbury on the subject:

"Find a character, like yourself, who will want something or not want something, with all his heart. Give him running orders. Shoot him off. Then follow as fast as you can go.  The character, in his great love, or hate, will rush you through to the end of the story."

"The time will come when your characters will write your stories for you, when your emotions, free of literary cant and commercial bias, will blast the page and tell the truth."

Compare Bradbury's quotes with Stephen King's quotes here.

Also like King, Bradbury wrote of the insecurity from which writers often suffer:

"We all need someone higher, wiser, older to tell us we're not crazy after all, that what we're doing is all right... But it is easy to doubt yourself, because you look around at a community of notions held by others writers, other intellectuals, and they make you blush with guilt."

Given the fact that two established authors have had much the same experiences, there must be some real nuggets of truth in what they are saying. Wide eyed, I am listening. :)

The Ray Bradbury portrait above is by Pixar artist Lou Romano for the cover of Written By magazine.

Final Lessons from Stephen King

I finally finished reading Stephen King's On Writing this week. Here are some quotes that stand out to me from the last third of the book:

• "Good fiction always begins with story and progresses  to theme; it almost never begins with theme and progresses to story... once your basic story is on paper, you need to think about what it means and enrich your following drafts with your conclusions. To do less is to rob your work (and eventually your readers) of the vision that makes each tale you write uniquely your own."
• "The truth is most writers are needy.  Especially between the first draft and the second, when the study door swings open and the light of the world shines in." (King advocates two drafts and a "polish". The first draft is private. The second draft is to be read by a few close friends.)
• "Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft - 10%... What the Formula taught me is that every story and novel is collapsible to some degree.  If you can't get out ten percent of it while retaining the basic story and flavor, you're not trying very hard.  The effect of judicious cutting is immediate and often amazing..."
• ...the larger the work [of writing] looms in my day --the more it seems like an I hafta instead of just an I wanna-- the more problematic it can become.  One serious problem with writers' workshops is that I hafta becomes the rule...  When, on the other hand,  making sure the kid gets to his basketball camp on time is every bit as important as your work in progress, there's a lot less pressure to produce."

I can relate to both the part about writers being needy and the part about the I hafta syndrome. I can become somewhat "needy" when I have others read my work with a critical eye. And on those occasions when writing becomes a hafta for me, then my production level invariably suffers.

One idea that motivated me from the last third of On Writing is the way King emphasizes that the first draft of a book should be written quickly to guarantee the story flows well. The subsequent drafts are where the "perfecting" of the writing is done. I tend to try and make things "perfect" as I go. I am going to give King's way a try and attempt to get the first draft of Spacemouse 9 finished quickly rather than going with my usual practice of slowly writing one perfect chapter at a time. Wish me luck!

Lessons From Stephen King - Part 2

Here is some more wisdom from Stephen King on the art of writing:

• "If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." (i.e. writers hone their skills by both reading well written books and practicing their craft)
  
• "...my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is to give them a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course)."

I was convicted by the first quote, but encouraged by the second. My conviction comes from a fact I already know: I need to read more! Regarding the second quote, I was encouraged because I understand exactly what he means. Stories do make themselves. A further quote by King on the subject comes very close to describing my writing process:

"I often have an idea of what the outcome may be, but I have never demanded of a set of characters that they do things my way. On the contrary, I want them to do things their way. In some instances, the outcome is what I visualized. In most, however, it's something I never expected."

The situation in which I have placed the main character in Spacemouse 9 is he is separated from his home world and those he loves. As my writing progresses, Spacemouse 9 does things his way to rectify the situation (with me along on the ride as a scribe). I have an outcome visualized, but as King says, most likely the final outcome will be something I never expected.

Lessons From Stephen King - Part 1

I finished reading the first half of Stephen King's On Writing. Memorable quotes on the craft of writing thus far in the book include:

• "Verbs come in two types, active and passive... You should avoid the passive tense. I am not the only one who says so; you can find the same advice in The Elements of Style." (Ah, here he is pushing Strunk & White again. Yes, Stephen, I will get to it eventually.)
  
  
• "The adverb is not your friend... I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops." (Really? Oop, did I just use an adverb?)

So in a nutshell, Stephen advises using strong, active verbs and limiting adverbs to the rarest of occasions. Lessons learned! The first half of On Writing is more autobiography than writing lesson. Perhaps the second half of the book is where writing advice takes center stage. We shall see.