Reviews

Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer's Life by Bret Lott

hannahcomer4d's review against another edition

5.0

I adore Lott's writing because it feels personal and humble. I feel like he can relate to me, a writer in an MFA program who hasn't published yet. This isn't a book about technique and specific craft elements, but it's a book to encourage and inspire you as a writer.

If nothing else, read it for the final essay, "Toward Humility," which is one of my favorite essays of all time.

mrswhiteinthelibrary's review against another edition

4.0

Not having read any of Lott's fiction, the sensitivity, awareness, and intelligence with which he writes in this book already piques my interest. While I would say this book isn't as essential a book for writers as say, Stephen King's On Writing or Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, there is much power and wisdom in this collection of essays, and plenty of encouragement. I particularly appreciated his emphasis on finding the "why" of writing, which can't be simply a desire to see one's name at the top of an article or on the bestseller list, and of how the life of being a "famous writer" is often without much glamor or markers of success. While I don't feel I gained much from his rambling essays on technique and irony, the final two essays in the book, "The Most Fragile Book" and "Toward Humility" are as beautiful and insightful as anything I've ever read.

cuocuo's review against another edition

4.0

Highly recommended for all writers. Lott is refreshingly humble. This book would be a great companion, especially during periods of self doubt (so always, I guess). If I ever taught a creative course, I'd have students read "A Home, A House: On Writing and Rejection." They probably wouldn't like it or believe it (I wouldn't when I was younger) but it'd be good advice for students to have in the back of their brain when they finally did "get it."

willwrite4chocolate's review

4.0

Another book I enjoyed while reading, but of which I have no memory.