Writing advice from Anne Lamott: The key themes of 'Bird by Bird'

Make lots of mistakes. Sign up to activities you know you’re going to suck at. Embrace these messes until you’re unafraid to be embarrassed. This is a proven antidote to the number one killer of creativity: fear. It’s also a key takeaway from a gem of a book called Bird by Bird.

Bird by Bird is a writing guide by Anne Lamott that’s practical, surprising, and deeply honest. It’s a great way to understand why writing is its own reward – and how it makes us feel less isolated. Here are the most insightful lessons from it that continue to resonate with me.

Good writing tends to start from a shitty first draft. It’s just the way it goes. But the main obstacle between your and your shitty first draft is perfectionism. Don’t let this powerful enemy stifle your artistic impulses. Instead, give yourself permission to be terrible.

Think of your inner writer as a puppy that needs to be toilet trained. You wouldn’t lose your temper whenever the dog takes a pee on the carpet. You’d just guide him back to the pile of newspaper. Treat yourself the same way. Forget self-criticism; just put your ass in the chair.

If there’s one thing you don’t need permission for, it’s writing about your own experiences. Your experiences belong to you. “Tell your stories,” writes Lamott. “If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”

Writing requires a bit of self-hypnosis. You’ve got to summon enough self-belief to get the words down in the first place. Then you’ve got to shift perspective completely, reading back over the work as if you’re a stranger seeing it for the first time.

“Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act – truth is always subversive.” – Anne Lamott

Writing is built on truth. Human beings have an innate desire to be understood. But it’s not easy; it’s not even likely. What makes artists unique is a deep belief “that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won't wash them away.” That’s a noble ideal to carry.

Drama follows a basic formula: setup, buildup, payoff. Establish a dynamic, let the pieces play out, and answer the question “Why are we here?” What connects these three points is movement. Without that, your audience will grow impatient and (inevitably) disappointed.

“If you are a writer, or want to be a writer, this is how you spend your days: listening, observing, storing things away, making your isolation pay off. You take home all you've taken in, all that you've overheard, and you turn it into gold. (Or at least you try.)” – Anne Lamott