Shitty First Drafts
The article “Shitty First Drafts”
was the complete opposite of what I assumed it would be about. I was expecting
examples of poorly written first drafts. My previous English teachers have given
me articles in the past to show us what “not” to do. I was then pleasantly
surprised to see that it was written by a talented author, Anne Lamott. She has
had six successful novels and I was immediately intrigued when I started
reading about her challenges when it comes to first drafts. I have always
assumed that successful authors were naturally talented and had no worries when
it came to writing.
I was
shocked when I found myself relating to the author over struggles when coming
up with the right wording, structure or length. Personally, first drafts tend
to be challenging because I would rather follow clear instruction than be given
a blank sheet of paper and told to write. I truly enjoyed the article because
it made me realize that writing is a skill, and the more you work to perfect it
the more results you will see. It brought to my attention the importance of
first drafts and how they are simply a place to begin. In my past courses, my
teachers never really suggested first drafts. I believe this may be part of the reason
that writing for me has previously not been enjoyable. I always felt that my
overall writing was not exactly what I wanted and therefore I never loved what
my final product was.
Lamott emphasized the importance of
trial and error to perfect the final draft. A part of the excerpt that stood
out to me was how she described the draft stages as the down draft, the up
draft, and the dental draft. I felt these were understandable descriptions of
each step and a great way to look at the process. Overall, I really enjoyed the
article and I was surprised I found myself relating to a successful author.
I agree that it was surprising how relatable the article was. I always felt like the authors were perfects but had at least had some ease to their writing. This article really shows how authors lives really revolve around writing. I don't think I agree on the thought of killing myself over a shitty first draft tho. That's just dark XD
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you mentioned that Anne Lamott is a talented author because it got me to google her and learn more about what she has written, I put a few of her books on my list to read, so thanks! I struggle with loving my own work as well. It takes time to accept that it will never be quite as perfect as you want it to be. This article really inspired me to embrace my mistakes.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, first drafts never really felt like first drafts to me because the second draft would be a totally foreign product. My second attempt would be so radically different from my first because like Lamott says, "the first draft is the down draft -- you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft -- you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately". My favorite quote of the whole piece was, "Just get it all down on paper because... There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you're supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go -- but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages."
ReplyDeleteHi Jordan
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see that his piece gave you some comfort and relief. And you're right, writing is a skill that can be perfected if worked on.