Malcolm X Literacy Discussion Board

Sample 1

Sample

Mr. McNeill

ENGL 111-80B

August 28, 2016

Summary of “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”

Anne Lamott, in her article “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,”

tackles the struggle that people, even great writers, go through when writing larger pieces.

Lamott makes her writing understandable and relatable in the sense that larger bodies of work

are difficult to write and it is normal to stumble along the way. Throughout her writing, Lamott

emphasizes the importance to focus on what is at hand and not what is to come. By doing so, all

your “short assignments” will gradually build into a larger piece that can be edited when

finished. Through descriptive writing and phrases Lamott tells a story about overcoming a sense

of “writer's block” and the things that are needed to be confronted before accomplishing a piece.

Sample 1

Works Cited

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. 1 ed., Second Anchor

Books, 2019.