School's Out! And Book Review

Hey Everyone!

I am so glad that school is FINALLY winding up. I've pretty much been buried in school work since Christmas. =P I'm going to be so happy to get this spring and summer off. =) All I have to do now is get through my exams and I'm gold! =D

Not that I'm going to be relaxing and slacking off all summer. =P I have lots of big plans. ^-^ One of which actually includes writing a first draft of a novel. Now, this is kind of a crazy goal for me, seeing as I've never ever actually finished writing an entire draft of a novel before... but I don't think I've every properly applied myself. =) (and I always end up not liking what I've written and scrapping the whole thing to start over. =P) I actually decided a while ago that I might need a little extra help with my writing, so I started looking into buying a book that might help give me a little insight on the novel writing process. I started reading a "For Dummies" book, which really didn't help that much at all... and I didn't end up finishing. It was a long time after that Dummies book when I just happened to come across someone mentioning the book Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott on their blog. =) I read some more reviews, and it looked really good! So I bought it. =)

I just recently finished reading Bird by Bird and I loved it! =D It's funny. It barely felt like learning, accept that I was! I have learned more in this 237 paged $15 paper back book than any other book on "How to Write" that I've ever read. The book is Actually called Bird by Bird: Some instructions on Writing and Life. And there's just no better way to describe this book! =D It's amazing. She has a really present way of writing that really makes you feel like she's there to help you. She references back to her creative writing class a lot too which kind of makes you feel as though you're taking a class. It's funny. I'm pretty sure I was more dedicated to this book, than I was to my classes, and I had to keep reminding myself it could wait. =P

The way she writes is so witty and sarcastic I found myself laughing right out load while I was reading (only sometimes in public. =P) and I think I read most of the first chapter to my poor unsuspecting sister before I realized that maybe she had things to do. =P The way that she has broken up the chapters for this book is really helpful also. There's a really detailed introduction that goes on about her life and goes into why she started writing. She talks about how her first short stories and pieces of writing never got published for a reason, and she makes you feel like it really is better to try and fail, than to never try. =) Her chapters are laid out in a way that almost takes you through the process of writing a novel. She has a "Getting Started Chapter" that's followed with "Short Assignments" - Which reminds you that you really CAN'T write a whole book in one sitting. Followed with "S****y First Drafts", which reminds you that it doesn't have to be, and really is not going to be perfect the first time around. You just have to get something down!

She's really down to earth about the whole writing and publishing process and at no point makes you feel as though only a select few people are gifted enough to join the elite club of published authors. Also, she lets you know that getting published is not the answer to all of your problems, and that you will not be rich after writing a book - or probably- even several. She says that publishing will not get you rich and famous, however, it might eventually make it so that you can work from home doing something that you love. Over all this book was everything I was hoping for and then some. I will be reading it again. It was amazing and I'm so glad to have found it!