Inspiration at the Honda Dealership

They didn't even have any Otis Spunkmeyer cookies this afternoon as I sat waiting for my car to be ready. Like a dork, I had packed some trail mix, so I wasn't starving without Otis, and I was also pretty engrossed in finishing the book I'd been reading. Considering I end up with such little time to read, I regret being so whiny when the nice Honda man told me it would be an hour and a half. I also regret wearing yoga pants in public for what I thought would be a much quicker errand.

I read a lot of books written about writing. Books about writing written by actual, real, profitable authors. I love hearing what they have to say. The book I finished today, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird was a particularly fine one. Her advice was so simple...so simple that most writers don't think to mention that kind of stuff in their own "writing" books. I'm talking very practical advice about the craft and practice of writing. Reading books like Bird always inspires me to redouble my efforts to write regularly. Like every day. Of course I crave the kind of life where writing was my day job, but then again, Anne is very honest about that, too. About how things really don't change much at all (and if they do, they only get worse--between the stress and the pressure and the mental breakdowns).

It's the dream, of course, but in the meantime, books like Bird make me feel like a legitimate writer. Not just because I write, but because I think like a writer. It's why I love reading these kinds of books. Because I feel I'm among friends. If you are a writer in any sense of the word, I suggest reading everything you can about the craft. And never going anywhere without a book. And trail mix. And, you'll thank me later, a pair of sweats.