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

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.