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Title: Entertaining But Slight
Review: Bird by Bird is an instructional guide on writing with a good helping of life on the side. The title "Bird by Bird" is taken from her father's advice to her brother who was agonizing over a book report on birds: "Just take it bird by bird." Lamott's suggestion on the craft of fiction is personal and pragmatic: worry about the characters, not the plot, getting rid of jealousy, the anticlimax of publicaiton, etc. She wisely advises writers to form support groups pieced together with family, friends, and other writers. She observes that sometimes you won't get good support from writing groups, but you'll need them to keep your sanity.If you are looking for hard core advice on writing, you may find this book a bit slight. Some of the chapters are only a few pages in a small format book. But if you are looking for entertainment, diversion while you are stuck in your own writing, inspiration, the word on the path taken, this is the book for you.
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