Shitty First Drafts Response

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I want to start off by saying that “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott is extremely inspiring to me. The combination of the personal tone that she uses along with the topic that she is writing about really speaks to me. Lamott uses the example of famous writers to prove that ‘shitty drafts’ are normal part of writing. This made me feel better about myself and my writing. I sometimes have a very hard time with writing, and this makes me feel like my troubles are something that almost everyone goes through. I agree with the points that she makes about bad drafts as being a crucial part of the writing process. Even though forcing a draft out of yourself may be hard and it might not turn out good, it gives you a starting point. Lamott writes, “But because by then I had been writing for so long, I would eventually let myself trust the process…” (Lamott paragraph 7). I think I need to learn how to trust the process in my own writing, because I try so hard to be perfect on the first try. This fault makes it hard to revise my own papers because I do not want to change something that was so difficult to write in the first place. The description of how Lamott approaches her papers also made me want to try to embrace my shitty first drafts, because it makes the whole process flow so much better. Getting something on paper is significant because it allows for edits and for more ideas to come into your head about where your want to take your paper. Overall, this was a very interesting read, and I definitely will try much harder to respect the writing process in my future papers.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 1, 2017 at 2:19 PM

    I completely agree that it is a relief to know that "shitty" first drafts are both normal and necessary in producing a quality work of writing. Also that these even awful drafts are often extremely forced always us as young writers to be less stressed about not being "perfect" writers.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 3, 2017 at 11:48 AM

    I completely agree that many of us still need to learn how to "trust the process" because, at times, it can be difficult for us (as writers) to understand that the first draft we write will not be absolutely perfect. We have to know that it is completely ok, but once we do come to that realization, there is no doubt that out writing will improve tremendously.

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  3. UnknownSeptember 4, 2017 at 12:25 PM

    I do the same thing with my first drafts,; I try to make them perfect the first time which takes so long and then I revise my first draft barely. The process she describes sounds much better than the writing process i use.

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  4. Julie CottonSeptember 4, 2017 at 6:12 PM

    I agree it was reassuring to hear how universal these problems are! I am hoping that this article sticks with me and makes writing easier so I don't always agonize for so long over first drafts instead of focusing on projects as a whole. I am also still learning to trust the process

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  5. Camille VilelaSeptember 13, 2017 at 2:22 PM

    Hi Sydney
    I totally relate to you when you say it's hard to cut down sentences from your text when you've worked so hard on them. That's definitely part of writing, especially when you're working under word-count, like we are. Writing is all about making decisions, and once we produce a first shitty draft, those become easier to make.

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