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Hi
I know that there are those of you who are not fans of 'how to write' books, but I am one, and suspect that some of you might be too. Whenever I find a good one, I always post the details for those of you who might like to follow up on this.
I found this book at Borders, who stock lots of American books on writing, and it is truly wonderful. I'll give you the details first, then a couple of quotes from it just to give a flavour. The book is called:
'Bird by Bird' and is written by Anne Lamott and it has had me laughing, crying and running to my desk to write for the past week, and will, I suspect, long continue to do so. Here is some blurb from The Seattle Times:
'A gift to all of us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...sidesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternately cranky and kind - a reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can.'
Here is the final paragraph:
"So why does our writing matter again?" they (her students) ask.
'Because of the spirit, I say. Because of the heart. Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life; they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship."
What a wonderful, heartfelt passage. There is so much truth and good, sound advice in this book, I will use it always, and even if I never get a word published, I will be so pleased that I got to read this book in my efforts.
Lizzie
Comments
I know that there are those of you who are not fans of 'how to write' books, but I am one, and suspect that some of you might be too. Whenever I find a good one, I always post the details for those of you who might like to follow up on this.
I found this book at Borders, who stock lots of American books on writing, and it is truly wonderful. I'll give you the details first, then a couple of quotes from it just to give a flavour. The book is called:
'Bird by Bird' and is written by Anne Lamott and it has had me laughing, crying and running to my desk to write for the past week, and will, I suspect, long continue to do so. Here is some blurb from The Seattle Times:
'A gift to all of us mortals who write or ever wanted to write...sidesplittingly funny, patiently wise and alternately cranky and kind - a reveille to get off our duffs and start writing now, while we still can.'
Here is the final paragraph:
"So why does our writing matter again?" they (her students) ask.
'Because of the spirit, I say. Because of the heart. Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life; they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship."
What a wonderful, heartfelt passage. There is so much truth and good, sound advice in this book, I will use it always, and even if I never get a word published, I will be so pleased that I got to read this book in my efforts.
Lizzie