Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Being a writer is being mindful of the world around you and being able to communicate what you experience. She describes the writer as a respectful observer and notetaker. Compassion for others helps with developing characters, but self-compassion is also important. She suggests practicing “friendly detachment” (99) when looking at yourself.

Lamott emphasizes how writers should be in awe of the world. Conveying this sense of wonder is the ultimate goal for writers, she asserts. To support this claim, she includes excerpts by the 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi and the 20th-century California poet and activist Gary Snyder. The practice of being focused on something other than ourselves balances out the mind’s potential for narcissism.

Writers should be inspired by their “core ethical concepts” (103). These are the truths that are conveyed to the reader in layers and are complex. Lamott argues against using sound bites or witty comments explaining your moral position. Fiction is not essay writing—it embodies moral concepts in character and action rather than explaining them through exposition. Writers explore moral issues, Lamott says, by involving their characters in drama and seeing how they respond in times of crisis.

Lamott distinguishes between