Anne Lamott, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, distills the advice she gives to her creative writing students. Using her two cornerstones of writing -- short assignments and "shitty first drafts" -- a lot of humor, personal stories, and memorable metaphors, this is unlike any writing how-to book I've ever read. She doesn't beat you over the head with "you must write every day" (though she suggests writing at least 300 words a day, even if you only write about how much you don't want to write) or give you a formula. She doesn't making writing sound easy but doable, not overwhelming. It made me want to pick up a pen and write myself. ( )

I just love Anne Lamott and her instructions to writers in this book is positively priceless. Rather than writing a how-to writing tome, she guides us through some of the activities that inform her own writing, many of them now part of my own repetoire as a writer.

She's funny, honest, and her advice is spot on. ( )

I picked up this book because I thought it was about birds. Its title and cover art were certainly deceiving. Nevertheless, when I found out it was about writing, I was pleased. I figured I could always use more advice in that realm.

Each of us might not have the talent to write well, but we do have the ability to improve our writing. For those of us who want to try our hand at writing, this is an excellent book with which to begin. Bird by Bird is organized in such a way that it is possible to dip into an appropriate chapter based on whatever topic is most pertinent at a particular time. Very easy to read, it dispenses advice in a friendly and humorous manner. The book deals more with the psychology of writing than with its technical aspects, but this is what many people need to even begin.

I’d recommend this book for anyone who wishes to write, is uncertain about his or her writing ability, or has writer's block. It has inspired me to try to improve my writing. I’ll now be passing this book along to a friend whom I hope to encourage to begin writing once again. ( )

http://alookatabook.blogspot.com/2009... ( )

Essentially worthless, except there is a good exercise about elementary school lunch. ( )