"Shitty First Drafts" response

Mariah McCurry
After reading “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, I realized some of my struggles while writing are very common even to those who write for a living. Lamott revealed that most writers she has conversed with do not just write excellent pieces in one sitting or even in multiple attempts. She further explains a concept of writing multiple drafts, explaining how each draft allows the writer to further perfect their work as much as possible.

The first draft, Lamott calls the child’s draft, is “where you let it all pour out and romp all over the place.” This first draft allows the writer to jot down all their immediate ideas and lets them organize it once the ideas and characters are written down. Lamott further suggests that after the first draft has come to a stopping point, the writer then goes over the draft in hopes to rid the draft of unwanted concepts and search for the important one. The goal of this “shitty draft” was to log down all of the composer’s ideas and have at least one thing stand out and give the writer that “ah-ha” moment that would really lead the rest of their writing. The second draft is considered the fixing up draft, where one starts to organize or “fix” their ideas. The third and final draft is where the work is thoroughly edited and any final things that need to be fixed are done so.

I have never been one to completely rewrite more than one draft; I had always just edited the first draft. I usually brainstorm concepts on paper and struggle putting my idea into formal essays or narratives. To write multiple drafts would not only help in making one’s ideas clear but also help come up with some new ideas or arguments that one may have not thought of before. I can somewhat relate this to what Anne Lamott labels as the child’s draft. “Shitty First Drafts” has really reassured me that a majority of writers do not just write out a perfect piece the first time they sit down.