#shittyfirstdrafts

[gaialsportfolio]

Author Statement

I’d like to relate my work to “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott. It engrains the fact that writing is a process and there are steps to take in order to produce your best work possible. All good writers have less than desirable first drafts. You can’t expect perfection the first time as that’s unreasonable and unrealistic. I remember writing the first draft for each of the three essays in this portfolio and thinking I did a pretty good job. Lamott gave real and honest insight to what goes into writing great works. Although you can’t see my first drafts, they’re a perfect example of Lamott’s main idea in her writing. My essays are a drastic change from their original form. Having written and put them through peer review, they never came out anywhere close to their original structure. You can’t just sit down and start writing the perfect novel. The first few sentences may give you that hardest time of your life. There are things in the first draft that may never make it to the final draft. Some things become irrelevant and some things need to be elaborated on. “Shitty First Drafts” compliments my attitude towards writing completely. Lamott argues that the frustration of first drafts is necessary and we need to accept that we’ll be writing two or three of them. It opened my perspective of the time and process writing needs to go through in order to become its best. Although my writing only had one draft then the final draft after peer review, it only makes sense that if I had continued to make drafts and have them reviewed, my essays would be that much better. My portfolio compliments this article because they were all shitty first drafts at some point. I would even argue that a few of my works are still in the “shitty” stage. My view of writing is less tense than it was before. I was so stressed about my writing looking good off the bat and embarrassed at the thought of peer reviews. I’ve come to realize that I need to stop comparing myself because everyone goes through the same thing. No one is really writing award winning novels on the first try. There’s always a process that a writer needs to go through. No one’s process is the same, no one has the same set of skills, but everyone has at least one shitty first draft. 

[mpclemens]

TEH NED By the numbers: 19 days of typewriting + 1 day handwriting, 59K words, 14 sporadic weeks of when-I-can evening transcriptions, one page at a time. Now the hard part: #amediting #nanowrimo #typewriterbrigade #roughdraft #shittyfirstdrafts #givemestrength #rewrite

[hazelrose3637]

The Spider jumped out, so I followed up with a Path/Obstacle. When will these cards ever NOT call me out! XD #spider #oyster #elephant #earth #water #fire #creativity #stayingmotivated #confidence #thewildunknown #twuspread #hiddengifts #letyourselfsuck #shittyfirstdrafts #amwriting https://www.instagram.com/p/ByoWOKil9tj/?igshid=yc8y26g6wn9d

[phoenixwritings]

I wrote 4,000 words today. It felt good to stretch those muscles. #shittyfirstdraft #yafantasy #writing #writingcommunity https://www.instagram.com/p/BtUtkxDhia0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1bnmlaima1mcj

[rogertheniner-blog]

Shitty First Drafts

The "Shitty First Draft" by Anne Lamott is an article which speaks for itself within its title. Anne Lamott talks about how one's first draft should be and how it feels to write your first draft.  

Anne Lamott writes that your first draft should be shitty. She refers to the first draft as "the child's draft".  Where you just write without thinking and just write whatever comes to mind. Also, that your first draft no one will ever see it (just like no one will ever see this blog post "Shitty First Draft"). Anne Lamott also says that some of your best writing can come from your first draft. Your best writing can come from your first draft because your first draft is mainly just letting your thoughts poor out and come out how you first thought of them. Your best writing can be found in your first draft because you let your thoughts run free and you are not restricting yourself by guidelines or the formalities or trying to make it perfect. Your very first draft should never be perfect (most of the times) and they should usually come out badly.  Trying to make your first draft perfect prevents you from releasing your possible very best writing and can stress you out.

Another thing Anne Lamott speaks about in "Shitty First Drafts" is how it feels to write a first draft. She reflects on the time she wrote food reviews for "California" magazine. She says she would usually take two days to write her review but still manage to stress out writing her first drafts.  Anne Lamott says she would panic and just think about how other people would view her first draft. Her first drafts would usually be way to long than expected and go too far into detail and she even acknowledges that her writing was "terrible," but that is how a first draft should be.

Your first draft is usually never seen by anyone else but yourself. Your first draft usually will not be perfect because your first draft is usually a "Shitty First Draft."  

[alexandratamburro]

Hello, hello, everyone! I know it's been a while since I updated Instagram. I'm hoping to be better about this in the future. I have still been making videos on my YT channel (link in bio) and two new videos are going up today since I had to miss last Friday. Already live is my video about #shittyfirstdrafts and my #review / #discussion of #13reasonswhy will be up in a few hours. Hopefully I'll be back to updating Insta more often. Talk to you guys soon! 💜 💜 💜 #youtube #amwriting #amrevising #amreading #nonowords #amediting #triggerwarning #mentalhealth #booktube #writertube #authortube #writerlife #youtubelife #collegelife #collegewriters #teenwriters #yawriter #imback

[danafraedrich]

It's a hot garbage mess baby, but it's MY hot garbage mess baby. I just finished the first draft of a new book and I'm SO EXCITED!!! I've been saving this bubbly for just this occasion, and I was fortunate enough to have my parents in town to celebrate with 🥂 😆. . . . . . #author #authorsofhinstagram #authorsoftumblr #books #booksarelife #booksaremagic #bookstagram #bookstagramcommunity #bookstagrammer #fantasy #fantasyauthor #fantasywriter #indieauthor #read #reading #writer #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofinstagram #writersoftumblr #yaauthor #yalit #yawriter #firstdraftdone #firstdraft #shittyfirstdrafts #vomitdraft

[chainofclovers]

Oooh, 8 and 16 please!

Thanks, Lola!

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is 2018 the year? 

I don’t have a specific story in mind that I haven’t been brave enough to write, but I will say that one of my tendencies as a fic writer is to write sex as an extension of an emotional connection. My sex scenes tend to be relatively quiet and contemplative, and are as rooted in the mental and emotional energy of the characters as they are in the physical energy.

One of my goals for 2018 is to flip this narrative a little and write emotion as an extension of a sexual connection. I want to write at least one story in which the characters access an emotional experience via some good old fashioned explicit s-e-x as opposed to the other way around.

One thing I don’t want to change, though, is my commitment to only writing sex that is physically possible. :D

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted?

This is the most boring answer ever, but I actually don’t! Finishing the Legible series (DWP) in 2017 was actually sort of a case of that kind of thing. While the word count on that series is pretty short, I’d been writing a lot of the individual vignettes and scenes that ultimately went into the series for ages. There’s more that didn’t make it in, but most of that would fall into the #shittyfirstdraft category. Lots of Miranda Priestly hating herself and letting herself fall into things with Andy anyway, that (I hope) I was able to pare down into a series that gives her a pretty decent arc.

I do have plenty of permanently abandoned snippets, most of which have been mined for all their good ideas, with said ideas being repurposed into other fics that exist and are out in the world. At this point, I’m at a pretty clean place with my WIP folder. 

[catsburglynchington]

#100dayproject day 21 - in which I continue to try and imagine what the future might look like to someone from a different present, when I myself am a bit shaky on knowledge of the past...and decide more research and coffee is needed. #clandestinesubmersiblecorps writing #process #shittyfirstdraft #timetravel #sortof #timevoyeurism #neverenoughcoffee

[edhickcox]

I kind of love this the most. #writing #novelwriting #shittyfirstdraft

[therearesomanybeauties]

Phew! ... #messy #iammessy #mrmessy #art #artist #writing #write #shittyfirstdraft #firstdraft #annelamott #birdbybird #nowreading

[englishjournalwritings-blog]

Writing Your First Draft Is Easy

We’ve all been there or at least most of us have been there, those moments when we just stop writing or stop typing because we don’t have the slightest clue of what we’re going to say next; our mental gears just seize. At least that’s what happens to me. Writing that first draft is always difficult when you’re focused on your first draft being a perfect draft. However that just might be one of the tricks to it, thinking our first must be written as a masterpiece? The first draft is exactly what it’s title implies, IT IS JUST THE FIRST DRAFT! That prospect is so relieving. Before stumbling upon this epiphany, I’d find myself at my mini bar mixing a vodka tonic thinking to myself, why does god hate me. Once you let yourself freely express your ideas in writing, no matter how unorganized or messy it may seem, you will have mastered writing your first draft. Your first draft should be supremely imperfect. All you need to keep in mind is that it’s just your first draft and it will become what it needs to be by the next few drafts; or as Anne Lamott would put it, the first draft is always a messy rampant baby(elephant) even for the most experienced writers.

[writersmama]

I addressed this recently in my #writersmama #zoom #readandcritique group. Not a good idea to audition a first draft of anything…. #novelistsofinstagram #memoirist #memoirwriting #novelwriting #shittyfirstdraft #creativewriting #story #storytellers #writingisrewriting #creativewritingcommunity #creativewritingworkshop #scwc #sbwc #writersmama https://www.instagram.com/p/CQMAKp_r_vT/?utm_medium=tumblr

[phoenixwritings]

I love the shitty first draft process. I wrote 14k this week for NaNoWri even though I have a sinus infection, grading 16 essays, and teaching. I love the chaotic writer lifestyle! #fantasy #spilledink #shittyfirstdraft

[eros-cisneros01-blog]

This post youre reading is the final draft you all dont see all of the mess up 1st drafts i do but hey the idea is that it doesnt matter how messed up your writing is its just the child that the writer will mold to a great man or even a god. #shittyfirstdrafts

[boldadulting]

#writing #perfectionism @beingbossclub @yesandyesblog #impostersyndrome #confidence #anxiety⠀ #adulting #BoldAdulting #creativity #entrepreneur #womeninbiz #smallbiz #artists #creativity #firstdraft #mentalhealth #shittyfirstdraft http://ift.tt/2k5DgBm