The Bird By Bird

In her article “I Stand Here Writing”, Nancy Sommers examines the writing process and formulating ideas for writing in a more empirical manner. She states that before she found her creative zeal/ niche her writing was often undisciplined, unmethodical, and sloppy. Sommers reveals that in college she was less known for her writing and more for her long hair and misapplication of phrases. She found her true inspiration while writing her Senior Thesis on Emerson’s “Eloquence.” Throughout the entire essay, Sommers provides the reader with advice about writing. A key point that she mentions is, “If I could teach my students about writing it would be to see themselves as sources, as places from which ideas originate, to see themselves as Emerson’s transparent eyeball, all that they have read and experienced-the-dictionaries of their lives circulating through them.”

Writing can be time consuming and each author must be passionate in their piece. Vetter explains, “The truth is that writing is a blood sport […] which is why those who are any good at it look older than their contemporaries, snap at children on the street, live alone.” Becoming a good writer takes persistence and patience. As an individual

She begins by pointing out that writing is not an easy process with a clear path; according to Anne it is something that almost everyone, even professional writers, struggle with. She explains that the only way she can begin to write is with horrible first drafts because they are private, can be written more loosely than typical essays, and can lead to a more defined

Her life was not easy, her husband got shot and was left alone yet she came back to care for him. That didn’t stop him from verbally abusing him. But when push came to shove, she just left because she kept expressing how she felt. She could have killed her husband if she let her anger pile on inside but she let it out and it made a lot of space in her heart to forgive her husband. Writing and other forms of self-expression have helped many others alike so this says a lot about the usefulness of the literary arts.

Whether while writing an essay or a birthday card, we have all struggled to find the proper words to illustrate our thoughts or feelings from time to time. Upholding the occupation of a writer would multiply that struggle tenfold. An occupation that depends on interesting, fluid pieces of writing every submission requires an adequate number of attempts and patience. Lamott expresses that writers “all often feel like we are pulling teeth” (Lamott), which proves the difficulty of writing is still there no matter the level of writer behind the work. Lamott also emphasizes that a writer “has to start somewhere” and shares her friend’s ideas in her writing to simply “get something - anything - down on paper” (Lamott). Lamott, and the other writers mentioned in this piece, carry incredible track records, while still admitting that perfection did not come initially, or even easily. Thus, proving that the Shitty First Draft has a place in any writer’s notebook or Word document. Lamott’s admission to struggling to properly begin a piece of writing surprised me, given of her success. I could not imagine a woman of her accomplishments stressing out over a food review, yet I felt relieved that someone of Lamott’s title relates to an amateur writer like myself. I often put off my writing as well when I cannot articulate a proper introduction. I do every other possible homework, or shy away from homework in general because the

The standard impression most people have of writers is that they can sit down and just let a perfect composition flow from their heads onto paper. In her writing career, Lamott has observed how “writing is not rapturous. In

Two specific characters caught my eye as I watched Annie, one of them being Annie herself. The way she held herself like a child and radiated optimism assisted me in believing her character. Her gesticulations were good, but since I was in the back row, some of them were hard to see and interpret. She held herself like she was Annie very well,but she also spoke like a child, and intensified her character by sounding how a uneducated child would sound. Her undeniable optimism let her foil very well with other characters, making the play better. In the scene where she was talking to the hobos, she revealed the hobos pessimism, while reinforcing her own optimism without having it shoved down our throats by her simply saying she was optimistic outright. The way she built her

Writing, as described by E.L. Doctorow, is an exploration. In her novel, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott explores the writing process, providing her insight on stylistic, theoretical, and instructional points. These points are essential in the composure of a book and are prevalent in many literary works such as Tim O’Brien’s The Things they Carried. In his book, O’Brien relives his time on the frontlines of the Vietnam War, telling fictional stories of life before, during, and post war. The novels are tied together with O’Brien’s use of character development, dialogue, and design setting strategies as discussed in Bird by Bird.

The Birdcage is how human social life, groups, and societies emphasize on modern, industrialized systems.

-Annie is a hippie and believes in freedom for everyone, rather than being locked up in a cell.

It shows how much tragedy and hardship can affect the human mind. It also shows how

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

Writing may be an enthralling experience for one and a clever way to decompress for another. In general, however, writing has different purposes for a variety of people. “Why I Write,” written in the late 20th century by Terry Tempest Williams, describes various reasons for writing narrated from a female’s perspective. The short essay begins in the middle of the night with a woman engulfed in her own thoughts. She abruptly goes forth by reciting the multiple reasons why she continues to write in her life. Through a variety of rhetorical devices such as repetition, imagery, analogies, and symbolism, Terry Tempest Williams produces an elegant piece of writing that offers the audience insight into the narrator’s life and forces the audience to have empathy for the narrator with the situation she is incurring.

In the novel “The Yellow Birds” by Kevin Powers the story is based on a twenty-one year old soldier and his experience in the war in Iraq. The twenty-one year old man’s name is John Bartle, a survivor of the war. The novel explains about the casualties and numerous amounts of times that John is surrounded by death and decay in Al Tafar, jumping back and forth through time explaining his experiences before and after the war. This novel is a very well written story; in some ways like a riddle keeping the reader on the edge of their seats forcing them to follow the book. At some points of the story, it becomes confusing because of how casual and emotionless John is when he speaks of death. One of the

In this short chapter of Bird by Bird, national best-selling author Anne Lamott shares a few pieces of wisdom to inexperienced writers. Marked by her self-deprecating humor and openness, she takes us through her own personal battles with writing and relates them to struggles that the reader may be also be experiencing. She quickly grabs the reader’s interest with her unique style of writing, using distinctive imageries and experiences. To some it might be considered overkill or maybe even psychotic, but to me this approach gives life to her words. While reading this short chapter, I almost felt like I was sitting on a couch listening to Lamott as if we were having a casual conversation. In this manner I was able to truly grasp the three main pieces of advice that she was offering the reader.