I decided to check it out after reading this post on 43 Folders, which nailed one of my biggest problems: being my own worse critic.
After years of knowing about this book, and not giving it much thought, I found it strange that I was now seeking it out. The first copy of Bird by Bird I saw was on Shelley‘s desk in 2000. It was one of those late nights just before the semester was to start, and Tiffany and I were in our office pushing furniture around, organizing our desks, dusting shelves, hanging pictures, sweeping, and getting our areas ready for us to live in for the next 4 months.
At some point, I needed something to keep a poster on the wall, a tack or some tape or something, and since Shelley was the only one who already had her space established, I looked on her desk for these items. That’s when I noticed her copy of Bird by Bird. I picked it up, and thought What the hell is this? The cover read “Some Instructions on Writing and Life.” Okay then.
I remember asking Tiffany, “What do you think birds have to do with writing?” She didn’t know. “Knowing Shelley, it probably has something to do with teaching English and nesting. Those are things she’s into, right? Teaching English and nesting?”
We went back to making our own nests, but I never forgot the book because, seriously, what the hell did birds have to do with writing?
Well, now I know.
If you’ve ever thought about writing — or giving it up — you might want to pick up a copy of Bird by Bird
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I was supposed to buy that book for a Creative Writing class at NYU but never did. No one in the class did. Actually, the professor (er, TA) never referenced it at all.
Still, I would be interested in reading it.
Stacey just recommended that book to me. I’m gonig to get check it out.
When I was working on my BA, I took a creative writing class, and my instructor never mentioned it either. Of course, it had only been out for a year or so at that time.
But as I was reading it this past week, I was thinking about where this book would fit in a course. It’s not about the How-Tos of writing or about how to analyze stories, which some instructors like to focus on; it’s more about the intellectual and emotional struggle of doing the actual writing, regardless of whether it’s good or bad. This book is something that I would suggest to my students to read on their own time (yeah, right, like that’s going to happen) and for their own enrichment.
Also, in my class, we each had to write three stories, the class met twice a week, and we tried to squeeze in discussion about two or three stories each class period. We each had to make copies of our stories and pass them out at least one week before class discussion. It was always a struggle to stay on schedule because there was so much to talk about with each story. I think that alone would keep me from using this book — even though I love it — in the classroom.
Good book. :)