Something to readWorkload & wellbeing
Bird by Bird
A funny, frank book about writing that also shows how to start any big job
Why it’s worth your time
Big pieces of work tend to stall at the very start, when the whole thing feels impossible and the first attempt feels like it has to be good. Anne Lamott gives you permission to do it badly and in small pieces, with a lot of humor and very little pretense. Her subject is writing, and it can carry over to the report or plan you've been circling.
How to start a big piece of work
The book · About 6 hours of reading · Buy or borrow
How to get it
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- Watch the writing part of her talk, then read.
In her 2017 TED talk, 12 truths I learned from life and writing, the sixth truth, about six and a half minutes in, gives the bird-by-bird story and her case for awful first drafts in under two minutes. If her voice suits you, go on to the book.
- Write a rough draft and ask for advice.
Pick one work document you've been putting off. Write a deliberately rough version in 30 minutes, one section at a time, without fixing anything. Send it to one person with a single question: what would you change about the approach?
Good moments for this: when a big document won't startat the start of a new projectafter a draft got picked apart
Keep going with Truest
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
A novelist can hide a draft for months. At work, a rough version shared early tends to save more time than a polished one shared late, because people can redirect you before you've invested much. Labeling it rough tends to help.
What might make this harder
List the sections as headings first, then write only the one that seems easiest. That's the bird you start with.
Questions people ask
What does bird by bird mean?
It's advice Lamott's father gave her brother, who was stuck on a school report about birds due the next day: take it one bird at a time.
What does Anne Lamott say about first drafts?
That they're supposed to be bad. Every writer you know, she says in her TED talk, writes terrible first drafts.
Is Bird by Bird only for writers?
It's written for writers, but its two central ideas, small pieces and rough first drafts, apply to any big piece of work.
What it says, and how it holds up
The book's core move is to make an overwhelming job small enough to start. Lamott published it in 1994, and her publisher has since brought out a twenty-fifth anniversary edition. The title story comes from her own family, and the subtitle, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, names the book's two subjects.
Her TED talk is a fair test of whether her voice suits you. The writing advice sits among jokes about dark chocolate and a frank account of getting sober, and she warns writers not to expect publication to heal them. Kirkus and Publishers Weekly both reviewed the book.
A rough draft can't do much for a project that's stuck because nobody agrees on what it's for; there are no birds to take one at a time yet. At most it makes the disagreement visible sooner, which is sometimes useful in itself.
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Picked by Truest and described in our own words. The original belongs to its creator. Last updated October 9, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.