The Shitty First Drafts - Essay Example

Anne Lamott asserts that most writers that she knows do not do it rapturously but instead they have to write whatever comes to their minds- this is what she calls the shitty first drafts. They later edit those drafts to come up with perfect pieces. She says that a writer can find thrilling or appealing ideas after writing so much of what she doesn’t need in which case if one didn’t write the crap probably she would never get to the point where they write the appealing stuff. Lamott says that the perceptions most people have of how writers work are different from the reality of the work. She narrates how even after a long time writing she would feel empty even after doing research (1). She used would struggle with writing, canceling even what seemed sensible at first until when she would decide to write anything after which she would come up with a good write-up.

Peter Elbow asserts that the most effective way to improve one’s writing is by doing ‘free writing’ which he explains as the art of writing anything that comes into one’s mind for a given period a day at least thrice a week nonstop. Though seemingly crazy he says, free writing allows one to avoid the extensive editing that writing allows. He challenges readers to consider the many times they have made great speeches even when they had started the speech so poorly. He asserts that this is the principle of powerful writing. He further says that seeking to have a perfectly knitted write-up right at the beginning of writing is preparing to kill any possibility of becoming a writer leave alone a great one as it would make one give up on writing
The idea brought about by both Elbow and Lamott is a bit new to many of us including me as we have gone through an education system that discourages it as learners are coerced into accepting the existing content without questioning. My experience of trying to use the method in writing school assignments never bore considerable positive fruits. Both Lamott and Elbow agree that the secret to becoming a great writer is simply writing what comes to one’s mind without consideration of whether it is what one wants the readers to see and then editing later. Read More