"Sh*tty First Drafts" Blog #3

Fine First Drafts

In Anne Lamott’s excerpt “Sh*tty First Drafts” from her book “Bird by Bird,” she explains the importance of fumbling around with thoughts/ideas and spewing words onto paper in order to have a beginning for a writing. This mess of ideas has led many wordsmiths to masterfully craft quite, exceptional works of literature. In the final paragraph, she states “all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” A statement, I am sure, all authors may easily be able to relate to.

I, personally, do not have “sh*tty first drafts.” The reason for this is because I put a generous amount of consideration into the construction of each sentence I write. My “sh*tty first drafts” never make it beyond a “sh*tty first” thought. Typically, my first drafts are a “down” and “up” draft all blended into a refreshing toothpaste ready for a “dental draft.” I was utterly captured by those metaphors the author’s friend had made which were referred to in the last paragraph.

Though, my favorite remark the author makes is in the second paragraph. She states that, “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.” That is an excellent, true to life point that she makes. I do not believe any authors have started writing and have felt, prior to putting pen to paper, that this is the one that will have the greatest impact. Instead, the well-known and impactful novels/stories are only discovered after they have been read. In a sense, an author may not even know how great it is until after they, themselves, have read it.