The timing is impeccable that I have landed on #8 on my list of most influential authors today. See, I'm embarking on a strange journey for the month of November, one that might take me away from this blog a bit more than I had anticipated. I have signed up for National Novel Writing Month, a crazy project in which would-be writers across the country agree to each write a 50,000-word novel between November 1 and November 30. I first heard about this project a few years ago when I was still in school, and there was no way I would be able to complete such an endeavor while also doing marginally well on my assignments and papers. So I put it off. And now I'm not in school and can't find any other reason to justify not trying this out, so there it is. (I know, I'm so enthusiastic, right?)
So back to the list... #8 is Anne Lamott, perhaps most well known for her collections of autobiographical essays, like Traveling Mercies and Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. I read Traveling Mercies in college, and am still hard pressed to find someone more authentic and genuine about their faith journey. It also really helps that she is laugh-out-loud hysterical. She's super self-depricating, but not at the expense of self-worth - she gives herself and her faith credit for the good moments, the peaceful moments when clarity shines in through the cracks.
Lamott also wrote a book called Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. It's a bit older than her more famous books, and chronicles lessons learned by Lamott as she has navigated the world of writing, editing and publishing. I kind of got hungry to get through every book Lamott had written, and this one somehow landed on my plate. By the time I finished the book, I found that being a writer wasn't something that someone decides on, but rather something one can't help but be. And even though there's something of a sense of calling in being a writer, which invokes all kinds of associations of inspiration and providence, there are things that can and probably should be done to cultivate the writing life. Things like - writing lots and lots of first drafts and not getting mad at yourself when they are crappy, being willing to let go of the ideal of publication, and taking small bites (going "bird by bird" instead of trying to cover the whole flock).
Somehow I've ended up trying to write a novel. And I know that the point of writing a novel in 30 days is to write A Novel in 30 days, not to write The Best Novel That's Ever Been Written in 30 days. Whenever I tell Beau that what I've got so far is not good, he says, "That's not the point. The point is that it is, not that it's good." So if I'm a bit less bloggy in the next month, it's because I'm trying to crank out 1,667 words every day to make my goal. And even if nobody ever reads it but me (which will most likely be the case!), I'm still going to do it, bird by bird.
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