Lamott: Shitty First Drafts

After reading Anne Lamott’s thoughts on the writing process I now know that even some of the best writers in the world have a similar writing process to me and think the same shitty thoughts about their pieces of work when they are finished as I do to mine. “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. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts.” 

Ok here is my process on writing. When I am writing a piece I can only write at night, I know it’s weird but when I write during the day I cannot focus cause all I can think about is the stuff I could be doing outside. Plus the approaching deadline of the next day gives me the motivation to hurry up and finish the essay. When I write I do not listen to any music, the outside noise just distracts my brain and I can’t think of what I am trying to write. The first thing I do when I am asked to write an essay is just write down as much as I possibly can, kinda like the best writers ever. After that rough draft is done I then look over it, try to separate my chicken scratch into different arguments while adding some fancy synonyms. After that is done the make everything into MLA format, make sure I am answering whatever the prompt is asking for. Finally I hope and pray that the work count is over the lowest required amount.