Bird By Bird

I find it funny that the book, Bird By Bird, was written about how to be a good writer. I guess I was expecting the book to be boring and strictly educational. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised to relate many of the stories to my own life. I felt the urge to recommend this book to my friends for an inspirational read. I especially liked on page 18, when E.L. Doctorow was quoted by saying, “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” I think in life, people are always trying to see the road ahead instead of concentrating on what is in front of them.” Another great quote was on the next page, when her father was talking to her brother about the bird project, “just take it bird by bird”. At this point in the teaching program, I feel like this is great advice (when we are all feeling overwhelmed). Everything will fall into place if we just take it day by day.

Concentrate on telling the truth, nobody wants to hear lies. Get over your perfectionism. Writing is like watching a Polaroid develop…you can’t. I don’t feel like writing is my strong suit, and looking at the rules of writing I now know why. I break all the rules. I try and force topics when I write, and then I try to perfect what I have done. When I write I want the instant gratification of the end result, I don’t want to go back and edit and revise. I never feel confident with my writing. In chapter 3 of Writing Essentials, it stresses the importance of seeing yourself as a writer. If you plan on teaching your students how to write they need to see you as an example. It was somewhat of a relief to see the part about letting your students see you struggle. I think it's important for students to see adults make mistakes. Nobody is perfect (because we are all letting go of perfectionism...) and if students see you make mistakes, it helps them feel safer in their learning environment.