Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

In this section, Lamott investigates the thought processes that come into play when working on creative writing. As in Part 1, she emphasizes Mindfulness as a Tool for Writing and Life. Lamott says, “Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on” (97). Attentiveness to the world around you, or mindfulness, is a technique that psychologists recommend to deal with anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues. Lamott not only suggests paying attention, but also seeking a state of awe: “I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world—present and in awe” (100). This extends the sensory awareness of the practice of mindfulness into an almost spiritual realm. In his influential essay “Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” the philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin described the difference between an original work of art and a reproduction—namely that the original work can be present in only one place at any one time. Its presence in the exact time and place where it is, for Benjamin, is its ‘aura’ and is inseparable from its vitality and meaning. In speaking of mindfulness, attentiveness, and awe, Lamott asks her readers to be conscious of their own ‘aura’: to recognize that they can access their own vitality and creativity only by being fully present in and attentive to the exact time and place where they are. Lamott argues for reverence of the world around you. She says, “in order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent” (99). Engaging with the world in this way, or at least attempting to, can also improve mental health.

Mindfulness can also help with developing creativity. Lamott argues that creativity comes from the unconscious and from intuition. These are crucial to the Practical Craft of Writing. It is the “still small voice inside” (110) that initiates the creation of characters, conflict, and the other elements in a story. Adult responsibilities and stresses often cause people to lose touch with their intuition and imagination that was present in their childhoods. Lamott believes that “You get your confidence and intuition back by trusting yourself, by being militantly on your own side” (112). The practices she recommends for writing will also generally help with self-confidence and self-compassion.

Through the editing process, The Practical Craft of Writing includes not only creation but also, importantly, destruction. Lamott describes alternating between creation and destruction: “Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly” (114). After allowing your imagination to run free, you must reactivate your rational and conscious mind. Boundless creativity is the first step in writing. The next step is critiquing and editing your own work.

Like her predecessor in the genre of the craft book, John Gardner, Lamott argues passionately that writing is an essentially moral practice. At the core of The Practical Craft of Writing is the writer’s personal, idiosyncratic morality. Lamott argues for being aware of your own ethical foundation: “The core, ethical concepts in which you most passionately believe are the language in which you are writing” (103). This is more an act of the conscious mind than the imagination. She also incorporates emotions in her discussions of morals. Lamott says, “To be a writer, you not only have to write a great deal but you have to care” (107). Writing combines conscious analysis of your guiding principles, awareness of your emotional state, and activating your unconscious mind (or imagination).

External factors can influence your emotional state. One example of this is how writers become jealous of the success that other writers have. Lamott acknowledges that “some wonderful, dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry, undeserving writers you know” (122). However, the people around us can have positive influences on our writing. Lamott draws on her own experience here, writing for instance that “[d]ying people teach you to pay attention and to forgive and to not sweat the small things” (125). She writes about her own experiences with negative emotions like jealousy as well. Rather than a nemesis or group of enemies, Lamott gets jealous of her friends. In acknowledging this, she highlights a feature of the writing life in the era of the academic creative writing program (roughly since the 1950s): writers learn to see themselves as members of a close-knit community in which their friends are necessarily also their professional rivals, often literally in competition for the same fellowships and prizes. Other writers, Lamott says, have focused on critiquing “undeserving writers,” such as Edgar Allan Poe writing scathing reviews. Lamott suggests focusing on being kind to yourself rather than going after other writers.

Being kind to yourself includes reading, which develops the theme of Writing as a Comfort to the Self and Others. Lamott says, “good books and beautiful writing are the ultimate solace” (108). Writers seek to provide other readers with this kind of comfort. The act of writing can also be comforting. Writers can function as a kind of conduit for creativity. When Lamott hopes to become a conduit for her intuition, she prays, “help me get out of the way so I can write what wants to be written” (117). Lamott emphasizes taking care of yourself through the acts of reading and writing. This, she argues, is more important and helpful for your psyche than being published.

A motif that develops the theme of Writing as a Comfort to the Self and Others is dance. In this section, Lamott quotes the writer Daniel Hillel, then adds her own interpretation of the quote: “‘I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing.’ The way I dance is by writing” (130). This can be interpreted as continuing to create art even if you stumble along the way. Writing, in this particular instance, is a way that Lamott overcomes feelings of jealousy. She revisits the motif of dance later in the book.