Writing Advice from Anne Lamott: Take It a Little at a Time

The second of our living authors is Anne Lamott, who writes both fiction and nonfiction. The advice in this post comes from her classic writing book, Bird by Bird.

Writing a novel is a huge job, and it can seem overwhelming. Lamott deals with this problem by viewing her task through a one-inch picture frame. As she describes it:

 [A]ll I have to do is to 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. All I am going to do right now, for example, is write that one paragraph that sets the story in my hometown, in the late fifties, when the trains were still running. I am going to paint a picture of it, in words, on my word processor. Or all I am going to do is to describe the main character the very first time we meet her, when she first walks out the front door and onto the porch. I am not even going to describe the expression on her face when she first notices the blind dog sitting behind the wheel of her car—just what I can see through the one-inch picture frame, just one paragraph describing this woman, in the town where I grew up, the first time we encounter her.

E. L. Doctorow once said that “writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice about writing, or life, I have ever heard.

In the next paragraph, Lamott tells the wonderful story that gave her the book’s title:

[T]hirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written 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 on 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.”

As with King’s On Writing, there is much more to Bird by Bird than what is quoted in this post. For more of Lamott’s advice, pick up a copy of the book.

And take your writing bird by bird.

Classic Writing Books

 

Every writer should own a few classic writing books. As used in this post, classic doesn’t mean old. Instead, it refers to books that many writers have on their bookshelves: books that are also frequently mentioned at writers’ conferences.

Let’s start with two books on general writing techniques.

 

• On Writing Well, by William Zinsser is is billed as “the classic guide to writing nonfiction.” But even though it concentrates on nonfiction, Zinsser’s book is really a classic guide to good writing of any type.
• Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein covers both fiction and nonfiction but, again, is mostly a guide to good writing. Next week’s blog post will discuss books that are specifically aimed at fiction writers.

 

Then there are the books that talk about the writing life. Both of these were written by women but are frequently recommended by men.

• Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg; and
• Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott.

Or maybe you want to read a book that combines both matters and/or was written by an author even the youngest readers of this blog are familiar with. Try On Writing, by Stephen King, which starts as a memoir and ends as a craft book. Those of you who write horror may also want to check out King’s Danse Macabre.

These suggestions barely make a dent in the many good books out there, and we would love to have you leave a comment with your recommendations. Still, for the writer with only a few dollars to spend, these books are a good place to start.