Bird by Bird Reflective Writing

This reflective writing assignment focuses on Anne Lamott's book, "Bird by Bird." The student shares personal reflections on Lamott's humorous and sarcastic observations, expressing surprise at Lamott's emphasis on commitment and the importance of starting with personal experiences. A sense of kinship is established with the author due to shared perspectives on writing and life. The student discusses how Lamott's advice on writing can be applied to doctoral studies, emphasizing the importance of creating engaging narratives. The assignment concludes with references to sources used in the reflection.

Bird by Bird
Reflective Writing

About the book
The book Bird by bird has been filled with the various humorous and sarcastic observations
made by Anne Lamott from her personal experiences in the life. (SparkNotes: Bird by Bird:
Plot Overview. (2016)). From the chapters like ‘Shitty first dates,' ‘Broccoli' and ‘Radio
station KFKD' (Bird by Bird Summary. (2016), it is clear that the book is not written merely
for the sake of writing, but a lot of attention is paid to original content.
Things that surprised me
To my surprise, I found her following statement to be familiar as I had the same thought in
my mind from the day I decided to write. That line is “The real payoff is the writing itself,
that a day when you have gotten your work done is a good day, that total dedication is the
point." Through this line, she made it clear that if anyone who wants to write something
seriously should first understand that there is only one choice available to them and that is –
commitment. Also, I was surprised by the narrative that she began with her father who was
also an author and because of him, she got to meet other writers and scholars that helped in
building her creativity and gradually enhanced it. Lamott has advised the writers like me in a
clear manner which I found very helpful, though. Those who find it difficult to start a story
and don't know where to start from, she has advised them to start the writings with some
incidents of their childhood and mention them as truthfully as you can.
Feeling of kinship with Anne
I could feel the kinship with Anne because of her this straightforward advice “Remember that
you own what happened to you." This piece of advice was somewhat similar to what my
grandmother used to say to me. I even noticed that the way she has written is enough to make
anyone happy and make them laugh because her style of writing is such that it feels as if she

is writing it to her friend and this itself makes it a funny style which would be liked by your
friend always.
One quote which I found to be best is “We all know we’re going to die; what’s important is
the kind of men and women we are in the face of this”, this quote reminded me of my
childhood when I was told to be helpful to others as nothing can beat the fruit which one can
get from it.
Application of the writing lessons in the doctoral studies
The way she has explained about the way of writing could be of great help as she has given
some insights into the real work and this would help us by shaping our thinking process in the
desired manner which would make the story interesting and would engross the reader till the
end. Also, it would give the reader a good experience of reading.

REFERENCES
1.SparkNotes: Bird by Bird: Plot Overview. (2016). Sparknotes.com. Retrieved 10 November
2. Bird by Bird Summary. (2016). www.BookRags.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016, from
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-bird-by-bird/#gsc.tab=0