I’ve read many books on writing during my journey to
becoming an author, but there is one that really reached me—“Bird by Bird” by
Anne Lamott. I actually read it for a writing class in grad school and I had no
idea it would become one of my top 10 favorite books. In “Bird by Bird,” Lamott
gives a close-up view of the writing process and all of the bumps and bruises
that come along with it. It chips away at any false perceptions that glamorize
writing and gets right to the point on issues like finding your own voice,
creating better dialog and even using writing to become a better reader. Bonus:
The book is funny!
For me, the most spectacular thing about this book is a
single quote. The quote is not actually by Lamott herself, but by acclaimed
author E. L. Doctorow. It’s marked in my copy of the book—dog-eared on p. 18 and
highlighted in faded green ink: “E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘writing a novel
is like driving a car at night. You can see as far as your headlights, but you
can make the whole trip that way.’”
When I read it, it was as if the clouds parted and the
angels emerged wearing flowing white garments, playing enchanting melodies on stately
golden harps. Well, maybe the experience was not that dramatic, but it did
produce an epiphany. This quote confirmed that my process wasn’t as haphazard
as I thought. Maybe I was closer to the habits of many successful writers who’d
already broken through the barriers of rejection and struggle. It was okay that
I didn’t know the outcome of every scene, let alone the ending of Broken Vessels. I was no longer
uncomfortable in sharing the fact that, from the beginning, I had dumped the
traditional approach (screw the rigid outline) and was letting the story unfold as
the characters led me.
So now you know the writing quote that keeps me going. And
it will continue to guide me…as long as I’ve turned on the headlights.
