Index Card (Bird by Bird)

Bird by Bird is another book on writing by Anne Lamott, female American writer. When I was reading 'On Writing' by Stephen King, I came across a good review on this book at Amazon. (yes, I choose books largely based on other people's review) Anne's writing (from Bird by Bird) was not concise, consisted of a lot of difficult words which I doubt that even native American would know all of those words, was full of black humor. In short, her writing style is very irritating to me. However, she says not how to write in her style, but what is good attitude in writing and what you might encounter in creating process and how to overcome it. So though reading was real pain, it was worth reading.

I enjoyed the following aside. While it's not directly on writing, I am that kind of man like 'a number of writer friends who do not take notes out there' she wrote there. I have hardly taken notes in any classes. If I forget something, I regard it as forgettable, not important thing. I am the man who should be got rid of by Anne!

“Now, I have a number of writer friends who do not take notes out there in the world, who say it's like not taking notes in class but listening instead. I think that if you have the kind of mind that retains important and creative thoughts - that is, if your mind still works - you're very lucky and you should not surprised if the rest of us do not want to be around you. I actually have one writer friend - whom I think I will probably be getting rid of soon - who said to me recently that if you don't remember it when you get home, it probably wasn't that important. And I felt eight years old again, with something important to say that had suddenly hopped down one of the rabbit holes in my mind, while an adult nearby was saying priggishly, 'Well! It must not have been very important then.'

So you have to decide how you feel about this. You may have a perfectly good memory and be able to remember three hours later what you came up with while walking on the mountain or waiting at the dentist's. And then again, you may not. If it feels natural, if it helps you to remember, take notes. It's not cheating. It doesn't say anything about your character. If your mind is perhaps the merest bit disorganized, it probably just means that you've lost a little ground. It may be all those drugs you took when you were younger, all that nonhabit-forming marijuana that you smoked on a daily basis for twenty years. It may be that you've had children. When a child comes out of your body, it arrives with about a fifth of your brain clutched in its little hand, like those babies born cluthcing IUDs. So for any number of reasons, it's only fair to let yourself take notes.”

- from "Index Cards" of 'Bird by Bird' by Anne Lamott

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life Anne Lamott

어려운 단어에 현학적인 전개로 인해 읽는데 무척 오래 걸렸다. 꾸준히 하라. 결과를 예상하지 말고 현재의 진행에 진실로 충실하라. 성공-작가들에게 있어서는 출판하고 돈을 많이 버는-하는 사람에게 어떠한 비법은 없다. 그들은 너와 나와 모두 같은 인간이고 같은 고민을 하기 마련이다. (그렇지 않은 사람을 알고 있다면 친하게 지내지 말라고... Anne은 썰렁한 농담의 여왕이다.) 브로콜리를 어떻게 먹는지 모른다면 브로콜리에게 물어보라, ..등.

그 중에 팁으로 제시한 것이 메모를 하라라는 것이다. 위가 Anne이 그에 대해 쓴 두 문단인데, 놀랍게도 나의 경우와 일치하는 것이다. 긍정적인 쪽이 아니라 이러면 안좋지 않을까 하고 제시한 쪽이 말이다. 일반적이 아니라 구체적인 묘사가 들어맞다보니 졸면서 읽다가도 눈이 번쩍 뜨여졌다. 한참 그 부분을 들여다보다보니, 맞는 말이잖아 하고 수긍할 수 밖에.

그래서 메모 카드를 주문했다.