Bird by Bird

"Don't look at your feet to see if you're doing it right. Just dance." -- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

Despite the title or this fabulous quote, this isn't a book on birds, or dancing. It's instructions on writing and life. It's what a father tells his son, who's overwhelmed by an assignment he has to turn in for school on birds - bird by bird, buddy, let's take it bird by bird.

I detest self help books, and approached this with the utmost skepticism. But this isn't a self help book at all. It's an unflinching anecdotal narrative on the love of my life - writing.
I've been an editor for other people's work for a decade now. Years and years of working on different voices, finding stories in conversation, commissioning, facilitating. I know what a story needs - and doesn't - in my sleep. And I'm damn proud of that.

But i used to be a writer, too. I wrote a lot, incessantly, everyday and I wrote fiercely. But it's easy to lose your voice when you're constantly honing other voices. And in the past month, thanks to some incredible friends, I've been reading and watching narratives about storytelling, writing. I'm rediscovering my own thoughts. It's delightful to write, not for a deadline or an assignment, but just because an idea had to be put down. I'm dancing again, kind of like the woman in my sketch.
#writing #love #dancing #girlinred#illustration #sketch.