Jeremy D Vance Author

      This bestselling book was a bit of a disappointment for me. The best takeaways I received were two points. First, the bird by bird illustration demonstrated the need to focus on writing one thing at a time, rather than becoming overwhelmed by the thought of a whole book. Second, the advice to ignore the two different voices in your head is spot on as well. On one side, you have the voice tearing down your writing and on the other, the voice that says your writing could never be better. Instead, focus on your writing or these voices will mess you up.       On the disappointing side, I felt Lamott overly focused on her thoughts and feelings to being a distraction from her writing advice. Granted, I’ve read a number of straight writing craft books so being pushed out of the rut could’ve been a little jolting to me as she writes about her life. Yet, perfecting my writing is what I wanted more than learning her particular likes and dislikes.       Also, I had given up on reading more

       A couple weeks ago, I vacationed with my family in Missouri and took a week off from writing. Within two days, I was chomping at the bit to write again. Now I held off for my time with family, but the need to write increased.       By the time I returned home, I needed to write in my WIP asap. Isn’t that a good sign? I believe all writers should have an experience like this, where you become anxious to write if you leave it alone too long. It must be a sign you were meant to write.      Even if you’ve had writer’s block for weeks, the fact that you agonize over it, means you’re a writer. Even worrying about a period of resistance to writing means you’re meant to be a writer. Others, who have writer’s block or resistance and don’t care, might not be in the right hobby or profession. I’d urge them to reconsider their reasons for writing.      It took me four years of writing to finally reach becoming anxious about writing. If you’ve been at it for a couple months and still haven’t