Notes on Bird by Bird

One writes to tell the truth. The truth is best told by starting with short assignments and writing bad first drafts. Stories are the most common way in which we tell the truth, which one might carry to the extreme of saying the message of truth is held in the medium of story. Stories are about characters, people who live and breathe with eccentric habits and chronic self centredness.
To tell stories, one must be observant and read and practice writing as diligently and as hopefully as a music student aspiring to mimic Mozart.