It took me about however long it took me to FINALLY buy and read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. People have recommended Bird by Bird to me (particularly the Shitty First Drafts chapter) FOR YEARS. And it’s August of the year 2020 and I JUST got it. I would say that it’s weird that I literally *just* bought one of the books that was recommended to me THE MOST. After reading dozens of books about writing, and after writing hundreds of blog posts about the academic process. And while in the process of writing my two books on how to do academia.
I am SO GLAD I did.
Anne Lamott is a treasure, really.
I have a million things to do today, but I am going to share a few snippets of wisdom from @ANNELAMOTT ‘s “Bird by Bird”.
It’s really weird that this late in my career and in my “writing about academic writing” life, I literally JUST purchased BBB. https://t.co/zjdaBnqN09
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 28, 2020
My library of writing and “how to PhD”-type books is vast. I seriously have read a tonne of books on how to write. SERIOUSLY. Al types of books, as I mention below.
I have read several of these “memoir-type” books that provide advice on writing.
William Zinsser https://t.co/1MDxRdVaqB
Stephen King https://t.co/n9LJEJn1Rc
Henry Miller https://t.co/ZncY8Iqfz8
HOWEVER… by and large, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is the most gentle of them.
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 28, 2020
I also struggle with perfectionism. I was a straight A+ kid from grade school through my PhD. I was used to push myself to the limit.
This is weird because my parents never pushed me to be “the best”. They did demand that I gave it my all. That I did *MY* best. For myself. pic.twitter.com/yjM7JkZgkb
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 28, 2020
But I did a lot of competitive stuff, and when you compete against others, you learn to try to be The Best. I played nationally-ranked competitive volleyball since I was a child until my late 20s. I danced competitively. I didn’t just dance to have fun. I danced to win contests. Lammott’s approach reminds me of Brene Brown’s words: “when you live a wholehearted life, you learn to be kinder and gentler with yourself”.
I believe that’s the component that is missing in the structure of academia. We need a gentler, kinder academia, one that builds us up. Though Lamott writes for novelists, the way in which she talks about character, plot, story development, is extremely useful for all of us who do scholarly research.
In my view, research is about telling a story. With data, with theory, but it’s a story in the end. We reveal things. We explain concepts. We make the complex legible. Storytelling is an underrated skill in scholarly research and writing. Yes, I’m happy you can program with Python and that you develop multilevel models. Can you tell me the story of what your model reveals?
I’m going to have to exchange some writing time for “grunt work” time (preparing lecture slides) https://t.co/IU6ajEi8Ls
But it’s ok. I will be ok. I am ok with not finishing this damned book chapter today.
I want to survive today and be healthy, so whatever I get done it’s ok
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 28, 2020
This is a wisdom pearl:
“[…] when you give yourself permission to start writing [is that] you start thinking as a writer”.(I always copy the exact quotation with a Harvard style annotation with author, year and page to avoid plagiarism and misquotation or poor citing) pic.twitter.com/7kkEr5Rcjz
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2020
Lamott on giving feedback to writers:
TL;DR: don’t destroy people’s self-confidence – build them up with rigorous, firm yet gentle guidance. pic.twitter.com/Lfp3BndnZy
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2020
Wrong photo in the previous tweet.
I agree with Lamott on writing groups: pic.twitter.com/gBcb8QhB9g
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 29, 2020
Learning from Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. pic.twitter.com/xSDmTX24j7
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 30, 2020
I am not joking when I said that reading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird has transformed the way I think about and relate to writing.
I say this without any remorse nor hesitation. Having read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird this morning has changed my approach to writing, seriously. And I’ve already read a lot of other great books. https://t.co/EMS6xwJuqv
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 28, 2020
100/10 would buy for all my friends and family.
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