Writing Response To &Amp;Quot;Shitty First Drafts&Amp;Quot;

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People like me tend to try to be perfect and over think our writing. I always thought that this was an issue that only plagued the people who didn’t like to or couldn’t write. I couldn’t have been more wrong. In Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott, she states in the chapter “Shitty First Drafts”, “For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. The only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.” (22) Understanding this, I am able to get over my idea that all good writers write perfectly from the onset. Earlier in that chapter she states “We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose end up being the most natural and fluid” (22). She lets us know that most writers good or bad have hard time writing perfectly from beginning. In fact, she reiterates this later by stating “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” (25) Understanding that most have the same issues with writing and are able to get over it and write effectively, gives me the hope that I too will be able to get over my own fears of writing. When I write a first draft, I attempt to be perfect. Because of this, I get hung up on the little details and end up not able to either finish my work, or not able to properly convey my ideas. Lamott talks in the chapter “Perfectionism” on the last paragraph of page 29 about how perfectionism can be a result of our minds building a barrier from our bad experiences with writing or other issues that may have gone on. She also states “Perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force” (28). Being a good writer is something that I have always wanted to be. Getting over my perfectionism issue is necessary if I want to write. Lamott states, “In any case, the bottom line is that if you

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