"Shitty First Drafts" Anne Lamott

Just get it all out there. It doesn't matter how terrible it is. The point is to get out all your thoughts in the first draft. What Anne Lamott expresses is something that is so true, yet is a practice I rarely follow. Usually I just want to get all the three magical steps of writing away with one, big sweep. I have other things to do. People to see. Superbowls to watch.

However, by trying to get everything done with "one, big sweep" I am realistically cheating myself out of what could be spectacular writing and perhaps spending more time on one piece of writing at a time than should be spent. To obtain great writing, it is important to be able to just write down all the thoughts that are mustered in one's thinking about a particular subject. As Lamott puts it: "You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page" (75). So if I'm talking about the importance of music and accidentally let it slip that I actually enjoy listening to country music or that N'Sync is actually better than what many my think, it's okay. The point of first drafts is to just express all the emotions that the writer has at that time. People are going to argue with a piece of writing no matter what one may write about. A piece of writing cannot please everyone.

Therefore, I shouldn't be afraid to write what exactly comes to mind. In fact, Orhan Pamuk also briefly mentions this aspect in his Nobel Literature award-winning speech when he says, "My confidence comes from the belief that all human beings resemble each other, that others carry wounds like mine--that they will therefore understand." While everyone may not agree with what I write, people may have similar feelings. How will I ever reach that point in my writing if I do not allow for a "shitty first draft?"

The beauty of that terrible first draft is acknowledging the feelings that the writer may have. It's like going to an AA meeting. The first step is always acknowleding that the addict has a problem. The first step in writing, is to be willing and to have no reservations about the initial feelings that something may possess for the writer to express feelings of hatred, depressions, comic relief, irony, love, etc.

So don't be afraid. The paper can handle the terror that your writing can bring it. As Lamott discusses, first drafts do not have to be seen by anyone. Revise a little or in many cases a great deal before showing your "first draft" to someone.

"Hi I'm Kayla Peck and I have a problem. I can't write 'shitty first drafts.'"
Like they say, knowing that you have a problem is the first step.