Writing Is A Difficult Process. Not Everyone Can Pick It

While that is rather extreme phrasing, it gets the point across that even professionals have difficulty when it comes to sitting down and writing their first draft. The importance of a first draft is that it paves the way for better second and third drafts. The importance of writing a shitty first draft, however, is that it lets you get all of your ideas out on the page, without the concern for proper formatting and grammar impeding the flow of

In Anne Lamott’s excerpt “Shitty First Drafts,” Lamott exhibits her own professional experience writing food reviews for California magazine while giving her audience a peek of her “shitty” drafting process. Lamott’s title is unique and not something you would expect to be reading in a college course. Nevertheless, this piece is effective in comforting the audience of students when it comes to writing drafts. Initially when I read the title I was uncertain what the content would be. However, after reading the first paragraph I understood the purpose behind “Shitty First Drafts”. Lamott’s purpose was to comfort her audience and does so almost immediately by saying “all good writers write shitty first drafts.” This statement alone sets a relaxed

“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

Lamott states the main point of “Shitty First Drafts” quite plainly: “For me, and for most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts” (234). There, stated plainly and with the controversial adjective for emphasis, is Lamott’s message. To paraphrase: first write bad, then write good. Let’s take a moment to consider the target audience of the essay. Presumably, Lamott is writing to beginning writers, many of who are struggling and may not be versed in the wordy lexicon of formal writing. Therefore (and paradoxically), had Lamott written in a higher-brow, clinical voice, her advice on writing could have been misunderstood or unheard by

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

Whenever an assignment was given, I used to just write everything that I could think of, similar to a free write. After doing a free write in my scrap notebook, I would then go back and insert examples from the text to further prove my points. After taking this class, I learned that is the incorrect way to write academic papers and that the best way is to make an outline instead so that I can make sure that every point is proven, clear, accurate, and most importantly understandable. I was able to see the improvement of how outlines helped through my first essay. The essay was about picking out an image and explaining its means to the visual context and its impact on culture. My first draft I had learned that I needed to step back and see

Anne Lamott is a college graduate, the author of a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles, and has been a columnist for a multitude of magazines. In an excerpt called “Shitty First Drafts,” from her book Bird by Bird, Anne tells the reader that almost every great writer uses horrendous first drafts to create better drafts and works afterwards.

Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” presents an argument to eliminate the understanding that writers create a masterpiece on their first drafts. The first draft is simply the first attempt that writers create to turn their thoughts into a final paper. Lamott tries to convince the “uninitiated” that everyone writes “shitty first drafts” and often times, positive outcomes come from those first attempts. One of the biggest obstacle in writing is the fear of creating terrible paper and many writers do not realize that this is actually the most important part to a good article. Lamott provided an effective rhetorical situation because of her persuasive appeals and structure.

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.

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

Fortunately, writing is a skill that can be both taught and practiced to a point

In Anne Lamott’s, Shitty First Drafts from her book Bird by Bird (1994), she claims all writers have shitty first drafts as a process to have something great in the end. Lamott uses her own writing experience to explain the importance of just allowing yourself to let your ideas flow, knowing it is not your end product. In order to emphasize this she details how she felt physically, her thoughts of what others would think and how she felt like giving up would be an appropriate solution. The intended audience for this is anyone who has a writing project, now or in the future, written in an empathetic tone to assure readers she has the same fears and anxieties. I find this work very persuasive.

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

Writing drafts is something I struggle with every time I have to do an essay. It takes me over two hours to finish an introduction. Once done with the introduction the body of the essay easy until I get to the conclusion, which is when my struggle to complete the draft returns. I believe the introduction of a draft is one of the most difficult parts for me of writing a draft because it is hard to come up with ideas for the introduction. Then the conclusion is hard because I have to find a way to restate what took me so long to come up with for the introduction. Ultimately, I will be able to complete a draft without difficulty for if I do them step by step and by write down my ideas and information before beginning anything and not to