Bird by Bird

Now that I have finally finished reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, it is hard for me to pick specific scenes that stick out in my mind.  I would definitely have to say that certain scenes like when she described the school lunch, when she talked about gardening and the vineyard, and when she described the death of her friend Pammy and her other friends' baby Brice dying definitely stayed with me.  I loved how descriptive she was in all these scenes.  Some overrall ideas that stayed with me are what Lamott said about taking a break to get rid of writer's block, using a lot of details, and not writing to become famous, but writing to express yourself and because you love it. 
 
Two pieces of advice that Lamott Used that will definitely stay with me are how to stop writer's block and why to write like I just mentioned.  Since I have no desire to become a writer, I have always just written when I was assigned to, but now I understand that I should write for myself not for my peers or even for my teachers.  I feel that that will release some pressure and even maybe make her other tip easier.  Her other tips of how to get rid of writers' block really appealed to me.  I feel like her one idea of writer a couple paragraphs or at least breaking the paper up makes it seem a lot less threatening and manageable.  It allows you to think clearly because you are thinking about the now and not the future. 

I think that I was moved by these two pieces because I thought that they would relate well to my writing and the problems that I go through when I get a new assignment.  Every time I get an assignment I spent a majority of my time finding other things to do to procrastinate.  Then, it is the day before the assignment is due and I write it because I have to.  Now I know that instead of facing the assignment as torture I can make it something for myself and even maybe see a good grade as a personal achievement.  I also know that if I start an assignment early and write it in sections it will be much easier to write.  Instead of waiting until the last day and having to write a five page paper, I can break it up and then it will not be as much torture. 

Some writing techniques that Lamott used to make me interested in her ideas and consider putting these two into my techniques for writing papers are her use of flashback and detail.  While reading the entire book, I would just wait until I could read another story about Sam or Pammy.  Not that I didn't think Lamott's ideas were interesting, but for the most past I was more interested in how she applied her ideas to life to show examples.  Her use of flashback and good stories allowed her to get her point of writing techniques and beliefs across while adding some aspects of writing that would make her readers interested in herself and her book.  Reading this book was the best of both worlds (If you're confused those worlds are writing tools and entertainment!).