Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life"A warm, generous and hilarious guide through the writer's world and its treacherous swamps." --Los Angeles Times Advice on writing and on life from an acclaimed bestselling author: "Thirty 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. It 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.'" |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - brenzi - LibraryThing“Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do---the actual act of writing---turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - madepercy - LibraryThingThe title of this book comes from a story of the author's brother who procrastinates all through the holidays on a project about various birds. The day before it is due, the lad sits at the table in ... Read full review
Contents
Getting Started 3 Short Assignments | 16 |
Shitty First Drafts 21 Perfectionism | 28 |
School Lunches 33 Polaroids | 39 |
Part Twet ršle writing frame of šur D | 95 |
Index Cards 133 Calling Around | 145 |
Writers Block | 176 |
PublicationAND OTHER | 185 |
Writing a Present 185 Finding Your Voice | 195 |
Publication | 208 |
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Common terms and phrases
actually agent Anne Lamott beautiful believe breathe called characters Demi Moore desk dialogue editor Ethan Canin everything father feel felt finally Flannery O'Connor formula fiction Frederick Buechner funny garden Gary Snyder getting give going happen hear heart hope index cards inside keep knew listen lives look lunch mind months morning movie Natalie Goldberg novel Okay one-inch picture frame Pammy paper parents person Phillip Lopate plot Polaroid probably published quiet remember sense Sharon Olds shitty first draft short assignment someone Sometimes sort stare started talk there's things thought tiny told truth trying turn voice waiting walking Warren Oates Wendell Berry woman wonderful words worry writer friends writing group written wrote
Bibliographic information
| Title | Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life |
| Author | Anne Lamott |
| Publisher | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2007 |
| ISBN | 0307424987, 9780307424983 |
| Length | 272 pages |
| Subjects | › Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing Reference / Personal & Practical Guides Reference / Writing Skills |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |