Monthly Archives: September 2020

Anne Lamott and Geroge Dila’s writing style contradict one another by sharing their views on the infamous first draft. In Anne Lamott’s Shitty First Drafts, as the name entails, the first draft for writers can be messy, unorganized, with mistakes because the only person who would read them is the writer themselves. Lamott goes on with her idea that with the messy first draft, the writer can go back to edit, clarify, add, or subtract from certain parts. George Dila directly goes against Lamott’s idea in his piece Rethinking the Shitty First Draft. Dila is strongly vocal on his standpoint that shitty first drafts are “…answer[‘s] to the self-doubt…[and] unrealistic desire for perfection…(Rethinking the Shitty First Draft lines 5, 6-7)”. Dila’s method relies heavily on revising as he considers himself a “ruthless reviser”. Unlike Lamott, he doesn’t write exactly what’s on his mind at the moment rather he critically thinks about his wording and idea before transferring it down. Then he would go back every few sentences or the end of a paragraph for the final revision. 

Both Lamott’s and Dila’s process is used in my own writing. However, each one is used for different forms of writings. Dila’s process is primarily best for me when writing school papers and assignments. It is more strategic and analytical best for professional writing. Lamott’s method is used in creative writing pieces. When I write my creative piece, I tend to go through with my ideas getting the images and feeling directly on paper before going back in the end to revise. Sort of like in the moment writing. Lamott’s method is also very useful when a writer comes to down with writer’s block. Each person has their own way of writing and it can be completely different from these two or realistically the two methods combined. 

When I read ” Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott and “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft.” by George Dila’s I initially thought. When do these two authors know exactly when a draft is THEE one? Also, how many attempts did it take for them to realize that the draft was nothing more than a draft? Nonetheless, I believe that I have more of a connection to Anne Lamott when it comes to writing drafts. I never really try to have a direct reason or meaning behind what exactly I am writing about until it is done. If I have a certain amount of errors or moments where I ask myself what exactly am I going on about? Then it’s probably a great time to go back to what objectives I was suppose to hit during my drafts. But, I also agree with George Dila’s. I am so used to critiqued with my writing that I don’t really continue the process of an essay until I know exactly that I got approval from a instructor. This is similar to writers striving for perfection in their craft or projects right off the back. No one wants to write something that is really bad in the beginning. We all want that high quality paper that gets shown off to whomever. But, what I fail to realize and probably what others fail to realize too. Is that that type of quality in work comes from revising and going over numerous drafts so that it can reach that perfection and quality that it really should be.

         Both essays “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott and “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft” by George Dila shed light on the topic of writing first drafts. While “Rethinking Shitty First Drafts” contradicts “Shitty First Draft”, each author both establishes their own perspective on the process it takes to obtain an exceptional essay. The basis of Anne’s essay “Shitty First Drafts”, initiates and informs the audience the method she utilizes for her writings. She encourages and inspires other writers that it is adequate to begin writing “shitty” drafts one after the other in order to reach the expectations and standards of establishing a writing piece. Anne states “For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts. The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later” (Lamott, lines 4-6).  Lamott suggests that a shitty first draft is the key to a kick off. She describes her experience when  writing restaurant reviews for California magazine.Writing horrible drafts enabled her to see a change in her writings.In “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft”, I for one agree with George’s point of view and arguments he provides to support his claim. George Dila states “ He begins pouring cement for the foundation, it is uneven and the cement is somewhat watery, but he can’t stop to fix it. He begins hammering the walls up. They are cockeyed, and a bit shaky, but no problem, he can fix them later… Oops. Forgot the electrical wiring…You get the idea. The builder would end up with a pretty shitty house; so shitty it would probably be easier to tear it down and start over, maybe a little more carefully the next time” (Dila, paragraph 12-13)The analogy that George utilizes helps support his claim and makes his argument stronger. It is important to keep moving forward and leave nothing vital out. Leaving something out or forgetting a main idea or evidence  can throw your writing off in a way that will result in having to do double the work. My writing process is more like George’s writing process than Anne’s writing process. I believe starting from a “shitty” format will lead to the downfall of his/her essay. Growing up I have always begun my writing in a way that kept me intrigued and wanting to keep reading. Placing pressure and negative energy on myself would rather discourage me. Rather, one should have a clear focus and great opening that will aspire the author to expressing their creativity through affection rather than writing “shit”.    

Anne Lamott and George Dila have their own approach when it comes to starting their writing pieces. Anne Lamott is more of a starting somewhere and pouring out all her ideas while George gets to the point with his writing piece; according to him, he doesn’t need drafts as Anne does. Lamott used humorous tones, while George is thinking more critical about having a draft. Some people agree with George’s way of writing because it overcomes obstacles in the writing process. Lamott’s way of writing works for some other people because they’d rather pour their ideas first instead of feeling pressured to come with a good piece at the first try.

For me, I work more of Geroge’s way; I don’t prefer to have drafts, I write whatever that comes to my head, and it turns out good. I’m not too fond of the idea of drafts either, its too much energy, and I would prefer to write once and get it over with rather than going back and continually having to revise and add new ideas. I never had trouble not having drafts. When I was in high school, teachers always ensured that the essays we do must have a draft. When it comes to these situations, I usually write the same thing from draft to the publish piece without changing something. It’s important to note that everyone has their way of writing. It’s up to you to decide the way it works for you to write.

In Rethinking the First Draft by George Dila, he basically says that the purpose of first drafts is just to gather your thoughts or ideas, whether it is realistic or not. Being that nobody is seeing the first draft, you have the ability to organize your thoughts, and see what information is relevant to your piece of writing in order to properly structure your second draft, third draft and so on. Also according to Mr. Dila, if you don’t do this then you’re not an actual writer, because then your points in your piece will be scattered, and all over the place, therefore the reader will get confused. In Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott, her points are similar to that of George, where all good writers have first drafts that need a lot of editing and organizing, and that first draft is called the “child’s draft.” Anne makes a good point in her article when she says, “I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident.” Many of the writers write for the entertainment of the public and because they have the incentive of money to look forward to. However, they may not do it because they are passionate or confident about the things they write about. According to Anne Lamott, her approach to writing is editing as you go, in case you find new ideas you want to include. From reading both authors’ approaches to writing, which is gathering your information first, then structuring it, and to edit as you are writing, I would have to say my way of writing is a mixture of both. When I write, I kind of gather my thoughts and ideas in the form of an essay, which would be my first draft, then edit that, and sometimes my second draft would be my final draft.

“Rethinking the Shitty First Draft” by George Dila and ” Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, are argumentative writings, that criticize and uphold the standpoint on writing firsts drafts. “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft” by George Dila embraces the offensive side on writing firsts drafts, claiming “In fact, I cannot even allow myself to write a shitty first sentence, let alone immediately follow the first with another few hundred shitty sentences.” Believing that writing your first draft poorly would make it a much harder task revising it in the future, such,  making the writing structure very hard to support and develop. Comparing it to “Building a house” and creating a mess due to the mess-ups on the way. ” Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, takes on the more defensive standpoint on the topic and endorses the usage of a first draft. Anne comprehends the usage of the first draft in her writing, and feels as “All good writers write them”. In her perspective, the usage of a first draft gives a writer the ability to reread and point out mishaps easier than fixing it along the way. Personally, I feel as in I usually take on George’s writing style of perfecting the writing as you go on. It’s like developing a home. If one goes carelessly from the start, the foundation for the structure will become very weak. From my experience with creating first drafts, I feel as in creating them makes me force my writing to keep on going, making me question everything I write. From that standpoint, when revising comes, the feeling of uncertainty is all over the place. I’m a “fix it at the moment” kind of person. With that being said, I do believe it all depends on the writer. Some, such as myself, prefer fixing issues along the way. Others feel as in doing that will make their writing uncomprehending, and prefer on doing the first draft.