I was introduced to Anne Lamott’s work in college by a writing professor who loved her. This professor assigned Lamott’s books Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies, both of which gave Lamott’s thoughts on writings and offered a peek into her life and her other works.
Almost instantly, I was hooked. I love Anne Lamott. I think her work is compelling and insightful and since those two assigned books I have since read more of her work and I have loved it. Lamott is a powerhouse and definitely earned the attention she’s garnered in the writing community.
Lamott writes with a simplicity and a tact that I admire. Her work is filled with truths and humor and so, so much love. She is skilled and has honed her work over the course of years. Still, it feels fresh. Each of her books feel distinctly new and yet familiar. I could go on and on about what I’ve learned from her, but here are the three biggest lessons I’ve learned:
1. Ideas Are Everywhere
Truly. Absolutely everywhere. In Bird by Bird she has a chapter in which she details what she calls “Short Assignments”. She describes a two-inch-by-two-inch picture frame she keeps on her desk. The frame is meant to remind her that when she is stuck, she need only describe something whose picture might fit in that frame.
Something small, in the grand scheme of all things: a bed frame, a shirt, a leaf on the ground, for example. Writing small, Lamott finds, brings forth more. In getting into the nitty gritty details of description, you open yourself up. It is a safe place to start–focus on writing about one little thing. Just describe one thing. In doing so, you must look at this object in a new way. You must distill it onto the page and in doing so new thoughts or old memories often come to mind. You can follow those.
Simply starting by describing your bed frame can lead to writing about why you selected that particular bed or writing about a certain memory in that bed or writing about why you actually hate your bed and want to get rid of it. Each of those can make for a fascinating read that began with something we might not all give much thought to.
Ideas are in the trinkets on your shelves and they are in the banal memories of your childhood. They are in the activities on your calendar and they are in the questions you never realized you had about the world. They are in your sock drawer and on your kitchen counter and in the yard down the street.
Look around, peer outside, and peer inside, too. There are TONS of things to write about.
2. Once You Find Your Voice, Your Writing Explodes With Power
Every writer has a voice. It is the language one uses, the words one chooses, the sentence style and structure one chooses, and so much more. Voice includes the way one frames stories, the jokes one tends towards, the flavor of a piece.
Once you find the words that suit you, the stories you need to tell, and the patterns you like, your essence begins to take shape on and within the pages.
After reading enough of Lamott’s work, I see Anne. It becomes so unbelievably clear that a real, living breathing person wrote the words (a relevant and comforting fact in this world filled with AI). More than that, I see her. I see Anne.
I make no claim to truly know her after having read her work, but I do believe the act of writing is akin to putting the soul to the page. When readers sense the soul there—and they can sense it—they are drawn in. Reading real, impactful words from a real, feeling person is powerful.
Not everyone will connect with your voice and what you have to say. That is okay, that is how it works. Many, many more people will connect.
Take the time to discover your voice. Read widely, see what you like and what interests you. From there, write. A lot. It is the only way to truly develop your voice and your style.
Some of what you write will be bad. Some of it will be really good. Most of it will have parts that are really good and parts that are bad. That is okay, it is part of the process. Write again and again and again. Write everything. Take Lamott’s Short Assignment practice and run with it.
Over time, you will begin to see the way you show up on the page. You will notice the words you tend towards and the style you like and the flow you favor. This is the beginning. Uncover it, learn it, expand it. Write write write until your voice begins to take shape. Once you see it, keep going!
3. Honesty is at the Heart of Compelling Writing.
The most compelling stories strip both the author and the reader bare. Compelling writing, intriguing writing, the kind of writing that keeps people reading, is vulnerable. Very vulnerable. This means writing the stuff that you don’t want to admit to yourself and really don’t want to admit to other people.
Lamott is fantastic at this. She throws shade at herself in her work, writing about how judgy she is and how she is sure she is so much nastier than everyone else in the world. Such a thought (such a fear?) is peppered throughout her work. Maybe she truly is, but I doubt it.
What I do think is she has mastered the art of writing down what she feels. All of it. She writes about her relationships and she writes about the joy, love, anger, jealousy, guilt, shame, sadness, and more that all come up within a single relationship, perhaps even a single moment in her relationship. It would be so easy to write about only the lovely things, but that is not honest. Life is hard. Relationships are hard. Writing about complexities is powerful.
There are some bits of Lamott’s work that are hard to read. You feel her pain and her shame and you imagine yourself in those moments and it squeezes your chest and makes it hard to breathe. But I’d be lying if I said those were the points when I put her books down. Quite the opposite. It was in those moments that I was reading the fastest, turning page after page, curious to see what would happen next.
People are nosy. Very nosy. They want to know the inside scoop. They want to know secrets and they want to hear things they kinda shouldn’t hear. Lamott knows this and wields it powerfully.
I see it time and time again in her work and in the work of many others. I’ve experienced it in my own, too. I am never so entranced with my work as I am when I re-read something I wrote honestly, no holds barred.
Honesty and vulnerability are powerhouses for writing. But this means having honesty and vulnerability with yourself, too. It means admitting the things you do not want to face and do not want to own up to.
You have to admit the truth to yourself. You have to. It is the only way to free yourself from it. Your life will be all the better for it once you do. Unfortunately. It is so so hard and it hurts and it is no fun at all. It is absolutely terrifying, but when you can be honest with yourself about what you think, feel, and want and can put that to paper, you will free yourself. There might even be a little rush of glee. There is a freedom, you see, in honesty. It is a little intoxicating.
Working on vulnerability in your writing is absolutely terrifying, but it will set you free. And it will keep people reading. This is a very, very convenient benefit.
In Conclusion…
Lamott taught me to find ideas everywhere, to find my voice, and to put my truth to the page. She is a fantastic teacher and a wonderful writer. I really cannot say enough positive things about her work. If you have not read anything by Lamott, go do it. Start with Bird by Bird and work your way through her catalogue. She has wonderful things to say and might even get you laughing. Check her out!
