The Bottom Line By Anne Lamott

“Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, is a hilarious must read for junior high school students and any other aspiring writers. Her essay inspires comfort and confidence in writing a first draft. It concretes that all writers experience the “shitty” first draft. Anne Lamott wrote this instructional information in 1995, but it is timeless information. She blows the idea of writing an immaculate first draft out of the water. Anne supports the idea that bad first drafts will almost always lead to better second, third and final drafts. She symbolizes the first draft to be like a child. Where you put all your thoughts and emotions out there in words on paper, you go all over the place, you say all kinds of ridiculous things, and all with the

By examining the ideas in the essays Freewriting by Peter Elbow and The Makers Eye: Revising your own manuscripts by Donald Murray. One can gain a better understanding of the process of turning a piece of writing from an inspiration into a craft. By examining the elements lined out in each essay can be beneficial in creating a piece of writing that is beyond a college or student level. Elbows essay lines out the importance of a strong prewriting regimen. That editing too early can ruin writing. He believes that by using the method of free writing, it can inspire ideas that may be limited when worrying about grammar. While Murray emphasizes the necessity to create many drafts to form writing into its full potential. Saying each draft is an opportunity to discover what the author has to say and they the best way to say it. By transforming writing into its maximum potential it goes from being an idea an inspiration a masterpiece.

In the essay “Shitty First Drafts”, Anne Lamott addresses aspiring writers on the subject of the dreaded first draft. Lamott uses a disarmingly humorous tone to illustrate the value of putting pen to paper and writing shitty first drafts. Lamott goes on to say, “The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out… knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later” (234). The essay successfully delivers this message by use of its light and conversational tone. This amicability aids the essay by allowing the precise communication of the author’s ideas, by portraying the author personably and empathetically, and by allowing the author to finally advise from a place of authority and practicality.

In her article “Shitty First drafts”, Anne Lamott presents her opinion that every writer and author, no matter how good they are, are bound to produce shitty first drafts that eventually improve in later drafts. Lamott stated that shitty first drafts turn out to be “terrific third drafts” with continuous revisions and improvements. Her main argument in the article was in favor of writing shitty first drafts based on her personal experiences and observations.

After examining “Shitty First Drafts”, by Anne Lamott, and “Write before Writing”, by Donald M. Murray, each writing process has some good prospects. Anne Lamott is a little crazy, but passionate writer that can really surprize you. In Anne Lamott 's article “Shitty First Drafts”, she believes that any writer should write a shitty first draft, and that’s how anyone ends up with a better second draft and a “terrific third draft” .Lamott declares in order to be good, the writer needs to first allow for the words and ideas to come flowing out without restriction. Donald M. Murray, an English Professor, that has a different writing process, wrote an article “ Write before Writing” . He explains, Students who are not

Although this is an effective way to explain the process, “Shitty First Drafts” uses a different styles of transition. When the first few words of each paragraph are singled out and analyzed, the reader can compare those words to the essay “How Not to Say the Wrong Thing” and see a distinct differences. For example, “draw a circle”, “here are the rules”, and “when you are…” are phrases that concede in the idea of the diagram drawn in the essay (Lamott, 337-40).

Whether while writing an essay or a birthday card, we have all struggled to find the proper words to illustrate our thoughts or feelings from time to time. Upholding the occupation of a writer would multiply that struggle tenfold. An occupation that depends on interesting, fluid pieces of writing every submission requires an adequate number of attempts and patience. Lamott expresses that writers “all often feel like we are pulling teeth” (Lamott), which proves the difficulty of writing is still there no matter the level of writer behind the work. Lamott also emphasizes that a writer “has to start somewhere” and shares her friend’s ideas in her writing to simply “get something - anything - down on paper” (Lamott). Lamott, and the other writers mentioned in this piece, carry incredible track records, while still admitting that perfection did not come initially, or even easily. Thus, proving that the Shitty First Draft has a place in any writer’s notebook or Word document. Lamott’s admission to struggling to properly begin a piece of writing surprised me, given of her success. I could not imagine a woman of her accomplishments stressing out over a food review, yet I felt relieved that someone of Lamott’s title relates to an amateur writer like myself. I often put off my writing as well when I cannot articulate a proper introduction. I do every other possible homework, or shy away from homework in general because the

Lamott 's effective persuasion was greatly due to her reflection on the writing process that writers go through and at the same time informing her audience the importance of first drafts. Most people assume that accomplished writers can easily write something they could be proud of, but that is not the case. According to Lamott, all good writers write a not-so-good first drafts and “this is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts” (Lamott, 191). For the most part of a writing process, mistakes will be made and it will most likely not contain everything the author wants to say. Lamott addressed new writers that the first draft is where writers assemble their ideas making it the most important step to a writing. Lamott pointed out many times that first drafts will not be

In Anne Lamott’s essay, “Shitty First Drafts,” she explains her writing philosophy of just getting ideas down on paper and then editing them later. While some disagree with this method, such as George Dila in his critical response, “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft,” many writers employ this technique to not only better their writing, but to overcome obstacles in the writing process. Even the most successful of writers will say that they actually hate writing, Lamott even compares it to pulling teeth. The intimidation of just starting to write becomes too much and leads writers to procrastinate. For many, an overwhelming, overbearing sense of perfectionism creeps in and creates anxiety and often lead to writer’s block. Everyone writes first drafts, but if a writer allows themselves to let go of all personal judgment and permits their writing to be “bad,” then they will most likely end up with great ideas that they did not even know were inside their heads. Once these ideas are allowed to flow out, then it becomes easier to visualize a realistic way of developing them into a full composition. By writing inferior first drafts, writers can focus on and express their ideas while overcoming the difficulties typically associated with the writing process.

Shitty First Draft a novel written by a woman named Anne Lamott is an educational novel that talked about her life experience in writing her novels. In Free Writing Exercises written by Peter Elbow, he explains that everyone limits themselves in writing because they are constantly editing their work. In the Pleasures of Reading written by Rebecca Mead it talks about how people read to impress themselves. When I was younger, I loved to read because the stories kept me entertained when I was bored but, as I grew older the books I read started to get more complicated because I didn’t know all the vocabulary which made it harder for me to understand the book I was reading. Finally, “The Maker’s Eye” written by Donald

Unlike reading, when writing, it is important that grammar, spelling and vocabulary terms are used correctly, therefore restricting me from writing in the way that I would prefer. The most stressed phrase while in high school was, "It is not the content of the essay, but rather the mechanics of grammar and speech that are most prominent." Unfortunately, I have never been one to enjoy the art of writing. In fact, I was recently given a diagnostic test, determining at which level I write and whether or not I should be upgraded to a higher achieving English class. Unfortunately, I did not pass the test with flying colors. This was not due to the fact that I am incapable of writing a good paper, but rather that I am unable to write in a limited amount of time, using the emphasized principles of correct; grammar, vocabulary and spelling. In the reading, Shitty First Drafts, by author Anne Lamott, it is a fact that in order to write a brilliant paper, a first draft must be created. According to Lamott, "The Only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts, all writers write them." (94) This is a quote in which I can relate being that in order for me to begin a final draft, I must first have written a first draft, usually one that is in absolute

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

In the article “The End of Men,” Hanna Rosin offers several examples of women overpowering men. The inequality between men and women has become a critical issue in today’s society. According to Rosin, women are slowly surging ahead in the workforce and family life while men are left behind struggling to meet expectations. Rosin argues that this role reversal is taking place because women are simply better suited for postindustrial society.

The first article, “Shitty First Drafts”, written by Anne Lamott talks about writers who wrote first draft in order to improve their writings in the final writing piece. Often, it is difficult create a sentence immediately because it is difficult to find the right words. She argues that nobody can be able to write professionally in the first place and it takes time to practice depending on the person. While she was discussing about her job experience in writing, she said, “I write first draft that was twice as long… with self-indulgent and boring beginning” (Lamott 7). It is surprising enough that even though that she seems like a professional writer to still made small error and had trouble finding the right words for the article she is writing. Her argument about creating the first draft was straightforward as she has quite an amount of experience in the

Bereiter and Scardamalia’s research findings reveal very different forms of composing behaviour between the skilled and less skilled writer (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p.118). They have provided evidence showing that the less skilled writers start writing their work much more hastily (i.e. less time for an initial plan). Less skilled writers emphasise on content during composing instead of acknowledging goals, plans