Reading Reaction #3

The chapters, “False Starts,” “Plot Treatment,” and “How Do You Know When You’re Done?” from Anne Lamott’s book have been my favorite so far. I could really relate everything she was saying about the writing process with photography. She talks about how in her writing she may think she knows who a certain character is and what the story is all about but then she later comes to realize she had it all wrong. This reminds me a lot of photography, in that many times we go into a situation thinking we know what the story is going to be but after we spend more time on it and make more pictures, we may realize that the story is not what we originally thought it was going to be. And we have to adapt and be willing to go with the flow, with the real story that is before you.

Lamott also talks about her long and frustrating writing process with her second novel. She is initially very confident that this is the story she wants to tell and that she’s got it right. When her editor tells her that the book leaves the reader hungry for more, she is really upset and finds herself vehemently defending her work. I’ve had something similar happen to me with my final project in Fundamentals, when we submitted our first edit of our story for critique. I really thought I had told the story the best way I could and didn’t leave out any missing pieces. I was confident in my selection of the photos but David said I was missing some key parts and kept pushing me to go back and get them. I defended the photos I had selected and the story I had chosen to tell—I didn’t see how I could make it any better. But boy was I wrong! I went back multiple times and as soon as I got those shots, I knew he was right. The project has turned out to be one of my best to date and I’m really thankful that David helped me see what my story was missing.

Lastly, Lamott talks about how you know you’re done with your projects. She says, “…Finally something inside you just says it’s time to get on to the next thing. Of course, there will always be more you could do, but you have to remind yourself that perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.” I could not agree more with this, and perfectionism is one of the biggest things I struggle with when critiquing my work. I’m always saying, “Well I should have done this” and “I should have done that” but sometimes you just have to be satisfied with what you were able to get and move on!