Bird By Bird

I just finished the reading in Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and I have to say I think it caused a bit of anxiety in me.  That woman comes off a little neurotic for sure.  Still, I can somewhat relate to some of the things she is saying.  Although I don't know why anyone would ever want to write after listening to her.

Still, some of her points are very valid and her advice is sound.  I think this reading is important in the context of teaching literacy because I think some students get so worked up over what to write or get overly concerned about getting everything right that they can't write at all.  I think we need to teach students  how to write by teaching them to enjoy writing and not think of it as a daunting task to be performed to meet certain ends.  If we place too much emphasis on spelling, punctuation and other semantics of writing we will be increasing childrens anxiety of writing and clearly that is counter productive to the creative process.

In some sick way, Lamott's book makes me want to pick up recreational writing again (not that it is something I have time for at the moment).  I am curious to try her strategies as I have experienced many of the same struggles.  Even sitting down to write this blog is a challenge each week because I know it's accessible to anyone and I have a much harder time then when I am writing a journal for the professor's eyes only.