My life through "Bird by Bird"

“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott has provided me with “some instruction on writing and life” (cover of book).  I say this because Lamott tries to enlighten her readers with life lessons while teaching them how to write as well. In a way, it reminded me of how to be a patient listener. It slowed me down to look at one individual person and to get to know them. I find that you can learn a lot about people and society this way.  Lamott even did this when she was developing her character. She sat down at a community home and really focused on the one older woman. Lucky for me, I experience this every day at work. I get to know my usual customers. Their weaknesses, worries, children, how they like their lottery played, and which newspaper they fancy allows me to learn more and more about them each time they come in. I think if I write another short story it will be based off one of my usual customers.

The next piece of information that really stuck with me was how your plot develops like a Polaroid. I think this describes life. We need to slow down and watch each piece unravel. By each piece, I mean each stage of life the good, bad and the ugly. Instead of throwing those feelings to the side, we need to embrace them and see where they take us. In my stories, I attempt to let the plot and stories unravel themselves to my readers. Slowly like a Polaroid, more and more pieces of the story come together. Finally, at the end, the Polaroid is whole and the story is over. Similarly, when one Polaroid develops, another one is right behind it, ready to be taken and transformed.