Bird by Bird Journal One

Describe some advice she gives her students early on.

"Start with your childhood, I tell them. Plug your jose and jump in, and write down all your memories as truthfully as you can. Flannery O'Connor said that anyone who survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life. Maybe your childhood was grim and horrible, but grim and horrible is okay if it is well done."

- I love this, because I definitely use my own childhood as inspiration for a lot of my writing. I had one of those "grim and horrible" childhoods and it helps me put my life into perspective when I can take those experiences and write about them. Inspiration, for me, usually comes from a dark place and it's what I find interesting in writing anyways. People generally don't want to read about things that are always perfect and where nothing ever goes wrong- people want conflict and a glimpse at the darker side of life. 

What kind of attitude do you need just to get writing done according to Lamott? Is "perfectionism" your friend?

"So I'd start writing without reining myself in. It was almost just typing, just making my fingers move. And the writing would be terrible."

- Obviously, Lamott does not believe that your writing needs to be perfect right off the bat. She believes that what is important is just making yourself write, no matter how hard it is or how much you don't want to do it. Eventually you will write something that speaks to you and sticks with you and you will realize that that is what you wanted to write about. It comes from somewhere inside of you that you would never be able to get to if you didn't let yourself write every thought down without a filter, because that's where a lot of great ideas come from. 

Describe some of the advice she gives about dialogue.

"Second, remember that you should be able to identify each character by what he or she says. Each one must sound different from the others. And they should not all sound like you; each one must have a self. If you can get their speech mannerisms right, you will know what they're wearing and driving and maybe thinking, and how they were raised, and what they feel."

- I love this advice. I feel like being able to know your characters in a way that you are able to give people a clear picture of them just through what they are saying- that is something incredible. I've always had trouble with trying to find the right dialogue for characters mainly because I write it too much like myself. Reading other books written by really amazing authors, Wuthering Heights, for example- you could probably tell exactly who is speaking in that book without ever being told. The words that each person chooses and the way that they say them are so easily identifiable to a certain character. And there's nothing better when you're reading a really intense scene in a book and the author is able to make you feel the moment solely through the character's dialogue- that is one of my favorite things ever.