Anne Lamott's Shitty First Draft

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Anne Lamott, a well established author, explains in her novel Bird by Bird that even the best writers will begin any composition with a “shitty first draft” (Lamott 1). Lamott exposes the common misconception that professional writers and authors always write fluidly and beautifully. According to Lamott and other successful writers she consulted, a first draft often begins with forcing oneself to write whatever comes to mind. This could mean just typing and getting ones’ fingers moving across the keyboard. Writing is a gradual process that begins with a “child’s draft” (Lamott 1). This kind of draft does not contain perfect or even decent sentences, and often runs on longer than the desired length. Writing anything down, regardless of how …show more content…
Within my personal writing experience, I never have enjoyed writing anything I wouldn’t feel proud of showing to anyone, even in the initial stages of the composition. As I wrote this short paper, I still found myself constantly revising what I wrote before finishing a sentence. However, I plan to work on writing several different drafts of a paper to make the writing process easier on myself. As an artist and a Studio Art major, I can relate the writing process to the stages of drawing. First, I think of an idea to begin a drawing. This idea can take me in several different directions when sketching. Initially, the idea may turn into a messy, smudgy page filled with scribbles, lines, and smudges. Then I can pick apart what visually and idealistically makes sense and create another draft with slightly less smudges and eraser marks. After working to make sense of chaos on an initial sketch, the final work of art is visually stimulating and beautiful. Similarly, an initial thought can take a piece of writing in many different ways in a first draft. After carefully reviewing and revising the “shitty first draft,” the body of words and sentences appears and sounds less blemished. The final body of writing exhibits my final thoughts and perceptions that I desired to portray. I believe that as I learn more about my artistic process I will grow to become a better writer as
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