What are the motifs in Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott?

The writing process is a recurring idea in the narrative. During Sam's first month of life, Lamott reflects upon her ideas about writing. She has already published three novels, and a fourth comes out shortly after Sam's birth. She remembers that her father, also a writer, said that their job was to entertain. She writes, "I think he believed that the best way to entertain the troops is to tell stories, and the ones that they seem to like the best are ones about themselves."