Bird by Bird

     "...if your intuition says that your story sucks, make sure it really is your intuition and not your mother."

     This short quote from Lamotts "Bird by Bird," (found on page 113) really resonated with me. I am not comfortable or good at writing fiction, and this quote really helped me put the proverbial pen to paper. I am a self concious writer, and remembering what Lamott said helped me work through that. While I don't think anything I wrote was that good, I know it was better than it would have been if I had not read that line first. 
     Quotes like that make the value of this book to anyone who has to write anything. Whether it's fiction, poetry, or a report on the traffic situation in Denver, I think most people always feel at least a little like their work isn't good enough. Sometimes, this feeling is good. It forces you to produce better work, review, re reviewing, rewrite, and re-rewriting work to make it as good as possible. But, when something you have is good, its important to differentiate between self doubt and honest examination of your own work.