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I picked up Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott without meaning to become a writer.
I was merely reading. But somewhere along the way, the book started making me think about something I had always done: using writing as a tool to clear my mind.
One of my biggest takeaways from the book is how writing can help us gain focus in life.
I have always found that pen and paper help me clear my mind. When there are too many conversations happening inside my head, writing becomes a vent. I may not have a perfect piece. I may not even have a clear point. But once the words start coming out, the mental noise slowly transforms into something I can see, hold, question, analyse, and sometimes let go of.
Another idea from the book that stayed with me is that writing can make us better readers. When we write, we begin to notice how other people write. We appreciate style, word choice, and honesty differently. We begin to understand, even if only a little, the thought process of a stranger.
Lamott says that people write both to say something and to figure something out.
“To say” does not have to mean putting something out there for the world to read. It can mean saying something only to ourselves. I have lived, therefore I have something to say, even if I am the only person who reads it.
“To figure out” feels even more personal. Sometimes I do not know what I think until I start writing. The blank page staring at me slowly becomes a story, a page in my book of life.
One chapter that stayed with me was about “broccoli”. Lamott asks us to listen to our own broccoli, that small inner voice we all had when we were kids.
Many of us learn what not to say while striving to become better, sensible, agreeable adults. So we perhaps ignore, hide, or pack away our natural observations. Eventually our instincts become quiet.
Writing could be our way to hear them again.
The book is also full of advice for people who are waiting for the perfect idea before they start writing. Lamott reminds us that we do not need a perfect subject. We should start small. A memory. First school lunch box. A first teacher. A random stranger at an airport. A tiny scene, seen through a one-inch picture frame.
That’s comforting!
I might venture to say that writing is easier for people with busy minds, even chaotic ones. Not because the thoughts are already organised, but because there is always something moving inside. Something to unload. Something to decode. Something to place on paper.
So writing to create headspace can be a valid starting point. Stories may show up when we begin.
Lamott also talks about messy first drafts and writing as if driving at night, seeing only a small part of the road at a time. That image stuck with me. We do not need to see the whole journey before we begin.
Maybe this is what writing gives us. Not certainty or perfection. But enough light to just keep moving.
I picked up Bird by Bird without meaning to become a writer. But it reminded me that writing does not always begin with wanting to be one.
It can begin when the mind is too full, when we have something to say, or when we are still trying to figure ourselves out.