Summary Of Anne Lamott's Shitty First Drafts

Anne Lamott 's essay, “Shitty First Drafts” explains to its readers that all writers, even the best, can have “shitty first drafts.” The essay presents the proper writing process from the first draft to the final piece of work. Her essay is intended to encourage writers who are in need of direction when it comes to writing and to teach inexperienced writers ways to become more successful in writing. Anne Lamott uses her personal experiences to build credibility, figurative language to engage the reader and provides the reader with logical steps for the writing process.

In the article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lemott she discusses how every writer has difficulty putting their ideas on paper because writing should be seen as a process that even the best and famous writers follow. She also talks about how even the best writers don’t just come with ideas and just begin writing on paper and make it as their final draft. Lemott also points out the importance of being able to just write down every thought into the first draft regardless of the structure of the draft and how it makes it easier to start the second draft. After writing the second draft it makes the final draft a review of punctuation and grammar corrections. As a food reviewer she struggled putting her ideas together because she would start doubting

Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” was non the less brilliant. I could not agree more that in order form a master piece, there needs to be a process. Just like anything else, the first time you do an activity or task, it isn’t going to be perfect, there will be some good that comes from the first time you do it, but there also is a lot of room for improvement. Lamott is an extremely successful writer and is very realistic in explaining her opinion on first drafts.

“Should everybody write” is the question that is argued throughout the article Should Everybody Write by Dennis Baron. Baron, an English professor at the University of Illinois, incorporates essay styled writings in correspondence to English problems faced in today’s world. His main concern in this essay is to demonstrate to his audience a proper answer to the argued statement and uses rhetorical strategies throughout his article to support his claims. The use of tone is incorporated when he discusses the context of writing history. His purpose in this article is discussed using his strong sense of logic and he also conveys to his audience’s emotions to caution them on their own writing or writing fears. In this article, Dennis Baron expresses that not everyone

After reading Stephen King's essay "Reading to Write" (72) it opened my eyes for writing. Although being a professional novelist isn't a goal I want to pursue in my life, writing is something I will need to learn how to do with good form. When it comes to the writing department, it's not one of my best skills. King says, "Good writing, teaches the learning writer about style, graceful narration, plot development, the creation of believable characters, and truth-telling" (73). I will try my best to become a good writer.

The appearance is not important for our lives. Most people would say that yes. Appearance is important, but it’s not everything to know who they really are. Lucy Grealy in, Autobiography of a Face, has cancer on her face, and she has to remove the part of her face. That ruins her childhood. In her college years, she learns the way how she looks is not the only thing to her life. Nancy Mairs in, On Being a Cripple, suffer from a disability, and has uncomfortable movements. Although Grealy and Mairs suffer from their illness, at the end, the way how Grealy and Mairs look is not everything to them. No matter how people view their illness that cause their appearance doesn’t change who they are.

Which of the authors in this chapter provided you with the most useful information for improving your own writing, and why?

As I look back over the past semester of English Composition, I realize that I have grown as a writer. Not onlyhas my understanding of the writing process changed, my whole attitude towards composition has too. This composition course has made a significant impact on my learning experience and has given me tools to take forward into my future educational and professional goals. Throughout this course, I have discovered things about myself as a writer and know some of my strengths and weaknesses. I now feel more prepared for future writing assignments, whether for work or for school. With the instruction given to me over the past few months, I have grown as a writer and gained confidence in my writing skills.

Annie Lamontt, author of Bird by Bird, offers a glimpse into a world many writers can relate to. In the chapter called “Shitty First Drafts”, she utilizes the writers she associates with as evidence to support that the writing process does not begin with an immaculate first draft (Lamont, 1994). This is the “fantasy of the uninitiated” (Lamont, 1994, p. 1). Strangers to the writing process may not understand that writing isn’t simply “writing”—it is a process. The uninitiated, in this case, are non-writers. Furthermore, she considers this a fantasy because it is not the reality shared between herself and the writers she knows (Lamont, 1994). This distinction is vital to the credibility of “Shitty First Drafts”, as it absolves her from being accused of being too hyperbolic.

Many may believe that reading a book about religion would be challenging to accomplish for someone who is not religious. But those people have never read Anne Lamott’s, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. If one were to ask non-religious college students to read a book by a random author about spirituality and “Finding God” through conversion, they would most likely roll their eyes and bear through it. In Lamott’s series of essays, one does not have to “suffer through the readings” because her writing style is one of a kind. She has strategically chosen every word because she is aware of how important her spiritual experiences are to so many people, religious or not. Her story is one of great strength, power, and faith and if it was not for her superb writing skills, that message would not get across as clearly as it does. “I took a long

Over the course of the semester, my main goal was to become a more precise writer and develop my identity as a writer. According too, the Portfolio Letter assignment sheet, becoming a better writer consists of precise planning, draft and revising. It also includes understanding a variety of academic genres by examining the basic characteristics that defines each type. In order too efficiently meet my goal of becoming a better writer, it was very important to have my work evaluated by others and myself as well. The use of rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, reading and writing all are the important aspects in this course. All of which helped tremendously with becoming a more precise writer and developing my identity as a writer.

Individuals are usually judged by their superficial appearances and not by their characteristics, which could cause a wrong perception of an individual true self-leading their status and identity to become an outcast from the society. Furthermore, it could lead an individual to have psychological effects on their mental health. For instance, it could lead an individual to obtain the feelings of emptiness and hopelessness, to conclude with a decision to commit suicide. Margaret Atwood’s short story, “Lusus Naturae,” is written in a first person perspective, in which the protagonist tells the story herself. The readers of the story are able to know what is going on in the protagonist mind and how she is feeling throughout the story. However,

Writing process is difficult to realize since it requires a lot of skills and knowledge. Definitely, not many of us can start writhing right away without having any problems such as grammar, vocabulary or organization. However, a person can become a better writer if he or she will practice writing every day and will pay attention to his writing problems. To become a good writer, I have to improve my grammar, follow specific steps in writing process, and avoid using similar transitional words.

When people are asked when they decided to choose their career, the typical answer is that they have known they wanted to be in that career field since they were little kids. In Lorrie Moore’s short story, How to Become a Writer, she is able to bring . By using irony and having a humorous, yet mocking tone, Moore is able to tell the readers that the journey to becoming a writer is not easy and does not come naturally.

There I am sitting on my couch with a laptop on my lap. I have a paper due tomorrow and I have no idea what to write about. I put my fingers to the keyboard keys and start to type out the first sentence.