Reading “Shitty First Drafts” was simply refreshing. Anne Lamott, writer and teacher, reinforced the idea that “Shitty First Drafts” are indeed messy, but they are nonetheless, constructive as well. She describes how her best food reviews come from shitty first drafts, the ones that no one read.
Before now, I was always taught that first drafts should be what one deems “good” and should be your best work. It was ingrained in me that the first draft should display organization and coherence; however, even as a great writer, I always faced the obstacle of incorporating the order a first draft required, considering my thoughts were all over the place and chaotic, to say the least. Messy, bombarding thoughts would inevitably lead to sloppy, unstructured sentences.
After years of trial and error in her own writing and teaching, Lamott adopted, accepted and supported a modern perspective of first drafts, “shitty first drafts,” a first draft that doesn’t include force or stress, just creativity, the foundation of a good piece of work. If a well-renowned writer lacks the ability to sit down and construct elegant first drafts, I don’t know why a teacher ever believed I did.
A “shitty first draft” reminds me of a warm-up before an intense workout; a workout wouldn’t truly be a workout without the half-completed stretches and the light jog you do in the beginning that prepares your body for what’s to come. A final draft wouldn’t be a final draft, without a really SHITTY first draft, the draft that got you started.
I am glad modern writing and teaching methods, now embrace what Lamott calls “terrible first efforts.” I mean it is the “effort” that counts, right?
Praises to “Shitty first drafts” for they birth passionate, powerful final drafts.