Fred On Something'sComments

Anne Lamott: Put the puppy back on the paper

I’ve previously mentioned Bay-area writer Anne Lamott in the context of her fondness for index cards and her belief in the importance of capturing ideas at the moment they come to you (it’s something I also really believe in). It’s fun to hear her talk about this stuff, too. She has a discursive speaking style that’s, by turns, insightful, frustrating, and very funny.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading her book Bird by Bird a section or two at a time whenever I have a few minutes, and I have to say, it’s one of the most inspiring books I’ve read in a long time.
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You enjoyed On Writing Well? I’m currently reading “Writing to Learn” also by William Zinsser. It’s another great piece of writing.

“[…]that we write to find out what we know and what we want to say […]”

“[…]Writing and thinking and learning were the same process[…]”

Also, “Page after Page” is another great piece of writing by Heather Sellers.

About anonimity

The first time I opened a blog (may 2003, now closed, always ateleven though), I asked myself: anonimous or not?
I decided to be anonimous, like I’m still doing (no surname or other).
Why am I an anonimous blogger? Why there are so many anonimous bloggers?
Everybody has his motivations. The most frequent could be:
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Great post! I’m like you: real name but not the full one.

Personally it’s a question of adaptation. I never wrote of my whole life. I get my French courses and do as little as I needed.

Many questions rise: Is my work good? Do I want that my surrounding know that I’m writing. Do I want that people, around me, know all the things I think of?

This is an adaptation I decided to make and it’s going well. I started to blog 6 or 7 months ago and I done progress. I said to some of my best friends that I was writing on an “anonymous” web site.

It’s really a question of being discovered.

I don’t fear to associate my full name with all I wrote, because I believe in my ideas and thoughs; it’s… another question.

Months after months I open myself more and more and eventually I’ll probably became a full, non anonymous, blogger.

I’ll take another step in some days, check it out Max

In asnwer to:

Fred I can recommend Alain de Botton’s ‘How Proust can change your life’. It’s full of wisdom and it encouraged me to read the original which I had been afraid to do because of its sheer size. Jim

Thank a lot for this input! I would had read Proust as a French, but I didn’t had the courage yet. As I read the reviews of this book, I think that I’ll not have another choice to try it

I think I’ll really love this new section of my blog. If I can collect all your suggestions I’ll be more than happy It’s the second this week and they are more than interesting!

Thank alot for your input Mr Nasir

How I use my Moleskine pocket diary

You would probably love something called At a Journal Workshop by Ira Progroff. He’s got a journal system/method based on topics etc. There is a book by that same name.

You told me: Psychology and Journal writing?

The book is on the way; I’ll receive it in a week probably.

Thank alot for this suggestion I think I’ll enjoy the reading

When and where do you think?

My best thinking time? When I’m not thinking at all.

When I have a problem, any type of problem, I learn about it. I learn what the problem really is. If I already have a solution to solve it doing this process, everything is then perfect and had gone well (it’s rare). Otherwise, I stop to think about it. I start to work on another non-related thing; I go outside. Then, eventually, a hint will show up in my mind; a track to follow to resolve my problem. My unconsciousness has then talked.

Its how I work: I feed my unconsciousness with the problem then I let him think about it, waiting for a hint. Sometime the process can get some hours, days even months to work; everything depend of the problem to be solved.

Anne Lamott on index cards

Lots of people had been suggesting I read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird (subtitled “Some Instructions on Writing and Life”) becaues she mentions how much she loves and relies on index cards for more than just composition.

In casting about for more information, I Googled across this wonderful quote, courtesy of Orange Crate Art:
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It worth his reading… it also worth his rereading each years. You get stock with your writings? You need inspiration? This is the book

I blogged about it a while ago and wrote some quotes from it:
Other quotes from Bird by Bird

You finished to read the book and need more? I can suggest you “Page after Page” by Heather Sellers. The book is in the same trend with another voice and other tips and tricks.

Good reading,