Except for 3 years in seminary, my formal education was limited to the lofty pinnacle of a high school degree from the prestigious School of the Osage in Lake Ozark Missouri. After 10 years as a professional musician, rolling around North America in a van playing popular music (read cover band), I got a job as a transportation consultant, (read car salesman) and was forced to either learn stuff on my own or remain ignorant.
I devoured personal development, sales, and business books at a rate that alarmed my then current spouse. Reading books and listening to audio recordings (read NOT Lady Gaga) changed me like a kid who grows six inches taller over the summer, the old gang barely recognized me.
When I was speaking for free and selling tickets to see Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Jim Rohn and others I studied these top speakers and saw how vital a Buzzy Book was to their entire success. So I determined to write one myself.
How does a guy with high school English as his top training go about writing a book? You guessed it, I read books on writing books! To this end, there have been a handful of books that to this day influence my writing. Of these, Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird” remains closest to my soul.
Looking at her wonderful book again reminds me of the Seduction Sequence we will talk about this week in the Buzzy Book section. The title is catchy, but hardly clear. Bird by bird implies movement, hinting at the expression “one by one” or taking it “one by one” is there – but here is where an author like Anne, who teaches writing at university and packs every class, can get away with creating a cult following – vs a ham fisted marketing effort. Watch how this title springs to life through the Seduction Sequence process.
Some Instructions on Writing and Life
The subtitle is six words, four of them monosyllabic, that tells us this book is about writing, and even clarifies what type of a writing book it is. It is also about the life of a writer. Anyone who has been sent to this book and sees this, is compelled to turn it over and read the back flap, because, what writer isn’t deeply neurotic and self absorbed and a book about our unique and very special lives is nearly irresistible!
The back flap tells how as a young girl she saw her father (also a writer) gave her littler brother some sage advice 
on writing as he sat on the last day of summer vacation at a table covered with books about birds and a blank sheet of paper, paralyzed by the daunting task of writing a report on birds under the crushing weight of an immovable deadline.
Her father placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said gently, “just take it bird by bird Danny.”
And, there it is, my Speaker Machine authors.
“This is a fantastic book filled with laugh out loud humor and a couple of very powerful tears as Lamott takes us through a sort of voices in our heads journey into the head game of writing, using vivid images that release our creativity and open doors our English teacher tried to hard to nail shut.”
With honest chapters like “Shitty First Drafts” and “One Inch Picture Frames” this book has done me more good in terms of actually getting my pen flowing and writing creatively – and enjoying it – than all the other “how to” books I’ve read.
By now, it must be transparent that I recommend you read “Bird by Bird” and hope that you leave your thoughts on this book in the comments section below!
