September 15th, 2022
| Published: 1994 |
| Genre: Non-Fiction |
| Themes: Writing |
| Length: 237 Pages |
| My Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ |

Bird by Bird is Anne Lamott’s guide to writing and life. She’s an accomplished writer and teacher, and shares what she knows and thinks will be useful to any want to be writer.
‘I don’t think you have time to waste not writing because you are afraid you won’t be good enough at it.’
She is generous in sharing the wealth of knowledge she possesses about writing and the book industry. She has written this in a concise but entertaining way, with her personality shining through her words. I found myself laughing and nodding along the whole way through reading this book.
‘Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft.’
This is a must read for any aspiring writer. Not only is it full of helpful advice, it’s also encouraging. It left me feeling a lot more confident that I knew what I was doing, but also with the knowledge that it’s okay if you don’t. As Lamott says herself:
‘You can’t – and, in fact, you’re not supposed to – know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing.’
I know that whenever I’m in the middle of writing, at any stage of the process, I will be turning to this book and flicking through I think are most relevent to my current state of mind. Hopefully it has the power of bringing me out of the dark hole of self-doubt.
Thanks For Reading,
Jess X
One thought on “Book Review | Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott”