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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott's *Bird by Bird* is one of the most beloved books ever written about writing - and, really, about how to live while trying to make anything at all. Published by Pantheon in 1994, it takes its title from advice Lamott's father once gave her overwhelmed brother, faced with a huge school report on birds: just take it bird by bird. From that gentle image she builds a whole ethic of the writing life, championing "shitty first drafts," laughing at perfectionism, and treating self-doubt and jealousy with disarming honesty. Lamott is funny, spiritual without being pious, and generous with her own failures. Less a technical manual than a companion for anyone doing hard creative work, it has consoled and encouraged writers for three decades. For anyone stuck, discouraged, or just starting out, it is a tonic.
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The author
Anne Lamott is an American novelist and essayist known for her candid, funny, faith-tinged nonfiction on writing, parenthood, recovery, and grace. A longtime writing teacher, she has written bestselling memoirs including Operating Instructions and Traveling Mercies.
The book
Bird by Bird distills Lamott's teaching into short, warm chapters on process and psychology: starting small, writing bad first drafts, managing envy and fear, and finding meaning in the work itself. Craft advice is woven through with memoir and humor.
How it has aged
It has become a modern classic, assigned in workshops and pressed on discouraged writers everywhere. Its phrase "shitty first drafts" entered the language of writing teachers, and its encouragement hasn't dated.
For more context
Pair it with Stephen King's On Writing or Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones for kindred takes on the writing life.
Sources
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Anne Lamott
- Publisher
- Pantheon
- Place of publication
- New York
- Year
- 1994
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Craft & How-to
- Location
- Colorado