Shitty First Drafts Revised

                                                    Shitty First Drafts                                                                                                                           By Anne Lamott 

    Anne Lamott expresses her emotions about her own writing process, the fear, the pressure and being at a loss of thought. Anne quickly dismisses the stereotypical thought, that writers wake up feeling great and confident about their work. As well as the cliche of writers rolling up their sleeves and getting the cricks out of their necks before starting.  

... and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and about how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. (21) 

      Anne expresses that writing a "shitty first draft" is essential to any writer, but the fear of her first draft being read, to the words of a critic in her ear are present. "... and the critics would be sitting on my shoulders, commenting like cartoon characters"(24). She believes that when you write your first draft you let everything in your mind flow, without any restrictions. You may have written something incredible in that first draft that you would have never gotten without it. "Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those crazy six pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown-up means"(23).Writing a shitty first draft gives a basis, a point where to actually start your paper. At one point Anne had visited a hypnotist and told him about the voices in her head although the hypnotist's reaction was not the one she expected. He had told her to isolate the voices imagining they're mouses and trapping them all in a lid, then just watch how they're frantically trying to get at her and then just put the lid down and get back to her shitty first drafts

       I agree with Anne, that making a not so spectacular draft will lead to greater things. I have first hand experience that writing multiple drafts will strengthen the writing and keep the blood flowing. There's always something you can improve in your writing. When you write something and say to yourself, "Wow this is bad" take your time writing down multiple drafts and see what you can do to create something great. Just relax, and write.