"Thank ya, Lord"

I couldn't have been anymore excited this week when I realized that we finally had an assignment to read that wasn't poetry, which I am sure is pretty similar to the response Latmott's agent had when Latmott finally sent in something new. I'm not much of a poetry fan, so this was a great new speed of pace for me.

I picked up Bird by Bird and didn't want to put it down until I had finished. Ann Lamott is very fun and brings to life much her suggestions on writing. I countlessly "laughed out loud" while reading through the first 60 or so pages. And although I enjoyed everything I had read, her character chapter stuck out to me the most.

The suggestions she made about allowing the characters the freedom to be who they are rather than making them be someone for a book is great advice. I'm excited to sit down and write in that way.

Another thing that I found interesting is that she said just sit and write, write everything you can remember from your childhood. Because it's ok to be bad at a rough draft, no one is going to read that anyhow, except of course if you happen to die before you can finalize that work.

Just reading through the first third of the book has motivated me to start just sitting down and writing everything that I can remember as far back as possible. I'm excited and look forward to this section of the class!