Lynda Barry’s new book, What It Is, a sort of memoir/collage/graphic meditation/artist’s workbook, is blowing my mind!  In it she asks, “What is an image?” and “What are thoughts?” and, “When did you first notice you were bad at something? And then what happened?” All of these questions are accompanied by Lynda Barry’s strange and wonderful drawings and collages.  It’s a mesmerizing and inspiring book.

I used one of her exercises in the novel class last night, after our workshop.  I won’t give away too much, because I want you to buy the book, but here’s how it starts:

1. Number your page 1 through 10.

2. Start with the image “other people’s mothers” and list the first 10 mothers you can think of.

3. Choose a mother from the list.  Picture her in a place you have seen her before.

Sounds enchanting, no?  I love how Barry urges us to get inside of imagery, to move around in it, and see an image fully.  It’s great help to the fiction writer.