Writing

Story in Review: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

April 7, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 8 Comments

Drop whatever you are doing and go read this book right now.

I’m actually serious, unless you are driving, in which case you should stop reading this right now, come to a complete stop at your local bookstore, and then purchase and read this book.

I’ve heard this book tossed around in creative circles I cannot count how many times, kind of like The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. And it is definitely worth a read. I might have built it up to be the end-all, cure-all to any and every writing problem that I have, which it is not, but the book definitely made me think about plot and structure and characters in a different light. Not to mention that Anne Lamott can somehow wrap spirituality, politics, and writing advice into the same eloquent sentence and leave you laughing at the end. She is a masterful writer.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is subtitled “Some Instructions on Writing and Life.” And it is. It’s a short primer on how to make a good story out of a story worth telling. At the same time, it teaches writers to live lives worth writing about, and to use their writing for the benefit of those around them – that’s where writing’s purpose really shines for Lamott. I have to agree.

There are several passages where Lamott reminds us why we aspire to write in the first place: a love of books.

Favorite Quotes:

“One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you the excuse to do things, to go places and explore.” – p. xii

“Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.” – p. 15

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” – p. 25

“One line of dialogue that rings true reveals character in a way that pages of description can’t.” – p. 47

“We all know we’re going to die; what’s important is the kind of men and women we are in the face of this.” – p. 51

“There must be movement.” – p. 59

“…that is the nature of most good writing: that you find out things as you go along.” – p. 71

“Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on.” – p. 97

“Write toward vulnerability.” – p. 226

“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They depend and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.” – p. 237

Should you read it? If you love the written word, yes.

Have you read Bird by Bird before? If so, what did you think? Are there any other books on writing you would suggest I tackle?

The Pressure I Think I Needed

March 3, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 2 Comments

A couple of months ago, as I continued my search for a writing critique group in the Madison area, I stumbled upon Madison Writers’ Studio. I hemmed and hawed for awhile, trying to decide whether or not to pull the plug, apply, and make the investment.

Instead, I joined a virtual (and free!) writing group right after the first of the year, and thought that might fit the bill for what I needed. I re-established my goal of finishing my novel by my birthday in July, and was excited to get to work, but a month or so later I have found that the online setting is just not providing the support that I need right now. It’s very encouraging and I’ve met a great group of ladies, but it’s not enough of a push for what I need to accomplish.

So a week ago Saturday, after talking it over with Scott, I decided to apply to the Madison Writers’ Studio. After waiting two tense days, obsessively checking my email to see if I got in or not (I had to submit a writing sample, and oh that was a nerve-wracking decision), I finally got a reply around noon last Monday, letting me know that I was in. I was ecstatic and joyful and then oh-so-terrified: I had to have 25 pages of my manuscript ready to be turned in for critique by March 2nd. At the time, that was only a week away.

So I panicked.

Then I planned (Type A over here, so of course).

And then I got to work.

I sat down and wrote more this last week than I have in the past two months combined, and it’s better quality work – more deliberate. I think this was the pressure I needed to really buckle down and give undivided attention to this project, rather than letting it continually hang out on the sidelines for when I had time, or worse: when I felt like working on it.

I turned in my 25 pages last night, and I am more nervous now than I think I have ever been. This includes the day I got married, the day I started college, and every single one of the last four job interviews I’ve been on. Not only will the other group participants be critiquing me, they will be critiquing my baby – my little novel that’s been floating around in my head for a couple of years, not yet ready to see the light of day. That is still not ready to see the light of day.

But I’m hoping with their help it will be ready someday.

I’m looking forward to receiving some writing instruction for the first time since my sole creative writing class in high school (over a decade ago – eek). While I have a degree in literature and history, writing about what other people have already written is not the same as crafting fiction from thin air. And I’ve struggled with pulling all of my thoughts together over this last year, unable to execute a big project like this on my own. So I’m hoping Michelle Wildgen (someone who has gone through this process herself a few times) will be able to walk me through it, or at least get me started.

We meet for the first time next Monday, the 9th – I’m bracing myself for a combination of amazing and terrifying.

The good kind of terrifying, of course.

Why I Write

February 17, 2015 by Abbigail Kriebs 2 Comments

For those of you who subscribe to my monthly-ish newsletter, you know that in 2015 I am making time to write. It might sound crazy to you, that I’m giving up T.V. time and reading time in order to write a novel that may or may not ever be published, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts about why writing is so important to me.

I write because it steadies me. It forces a pause.

Pauses create space. Space, for us introverts, is good. It allows thoughts to settle in the dust stirred up by deep conversation. Not a surface-scratch kind of talk, but one that requires a stout shovel. Those are the only conversations really worth having.

I write because when I don’t put words on paper, I feel like I’m floating, without an anchor. Everyone needs to feel the weight of a good anchor.

I write because when I don’t, I miss it. I am cranky and lazy and feel a good bit without purpose. When I don’t write, I get disappointed in myself. Even more so than when I don’t do the dishes or can’t remember to switch the laundry. Not writing feels in-authentic to me, like I’m not letting myself be myself.

I write because writers who don’t write aren’t really writers, are they?

I write because I can’t not write.

That is why I write.

And I guess that is a sign I should give up some T.V. time and keep writing.

If you are a writer, what makes you keep putting pen to paper day after day? Would you miss it if you stopped?