Listening to Anne Lamott--live!

My buddy Gail and I went to hear Anne Lamott speak last night as part of the Dallas Museum of Art - Arts & Letters Live Series.

I've read most of Lamott's books in the last few years and listened to Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith on audio just a few months ago. She is a radical thinker and a pleasure to listen to, wherever you stand on the issues she dares to talk about, even in the Christian environment. (Yes, you can say some of those words in church!)

I'm not going to do a long review of the evening here, but rather, share one little gem that stood out when she was taking questions from the audience. I can't even remember the question, but it was on writing and probably her process.

She simply gave the metaphor of a rag bag. When you are a bit stuck on what to write, reach into your bag of rags. Your rag bag contains so many brightly colored bits of fabric--the memories, the simple few lines you wrote on that index card and stuck in your back pocket, the dialogue you over heard in line at the grocery store. They have different textures and different levels of meaning, but they are a treasure. Pick one out, study it and feel it for a bit, then start writing.

Sounds easy. :-)