Ann Lamott...would love to go have drinks with her sometime! As we have been asked to identify quotes from her Bird by Bird book, I have ended up with a book loaded with a bazillion Post-It notes locating my most favorite quotes. Not sure how to explain my admiration...her honest way with words floors me, and I admit I can relate to a lot of what she says!An example: The chapter, "How do you know when you're done?" (pages 93-94): Her analogy of "putting an octopus to bed" so reminds me of multiple writing experiences in school these past few years as I finished my undergraduate degree first and continued with coursework in the t-cert program. While attempting to attain A's in my classes, I have felt the wrath of several wild octopus tentacles as they threaten to send me over the edge of sanity. I can work on a piece of writing and come pretty darn close to what I would call my very best work--ready to print out my "final" version--but then that octopus rears its ugly suction cups. I stay up way too late trying to "finalize" a piece and then try to sleep with that nagging back of my mind saying, "If only you could fine tune that section a bit more" or "I know I've left out some critical element...let me just suffer through a few more hours trying to locate it!" I remember asking a much admired professor of mine at UWB while writing a research paper in his class, "How do you know when to quit?!" He said, "You just do. You work to the deadline and then tell yourself, 'It is what it is.'" No big magic or sixth sense in knowing when you're done.
Okay, one more: page 112 in the "Broccoli" chapter. Lamott writes about "being militantly on your own side" and the need to trust ourselves. She says not to "look at your feet to see if you're doing it right...just dance." After writing my literacy vignette drafts--both of them, I was a little underwhelmed with myself--especially after feedback from my writing group. I don't have Ann Lamott's sense of humor and am challenged to make my writing entertaining to other readers. I thought my vignettes were true to my word and my story, but they ended up a little "short" on the engagement factor for other readers. But you know what?! Those first drafts were truth and directly from my memories. I guess I need to not worry so much about my rational depiction of those memories via the written word and just keep working and searching for those details that best show my recall as "valuable stuff."
