Anne Lamott writes about first drafts that are completely “hideous” and most notably “shitty.” She admits that even professional writers sit at their desks in desperation, wondering how they are going to write their next story. However, Lamott’s view is that the feeling of desperation often felt during a writer’s first attempt to begin their story is exactly what they need in order to write a well rounded paper by the end of the process. She suggests that in order to end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts, successful writers must get all of their ideas out on paper regardless if it initially makes sense or not. According to Lamott, the first draft is the “child’s draft,” where you let all of your thoughts flow on the paper. After going back and revising your first draft, you must begin to shape and edit your writing appropriately. Your third draft requires that you hone in on your purpose, voice, and grammar while considering your audience. Their interpretation of your writing is essential in order to make sure they are able to understand the idea you are trying to get across. Ultimately, Lamott is saying that it’s not until you’ve written an embarrassingly hideous first draft that you can perfect your writing in order to send your message to your reader both clearly and effectively.
George Dila’s approach of the first draft greatly differs from Anne Lamott’s approach. Dila’s drafts are executed with the mindset that the paper has already been thought out and organized rather than just ideas thrown on a paper like Lamott’s first drafts. Dila does this because he believes that constructing strong sentences in strong sequences will result in a strong paper at the end, because the so-called ”revisions” are being made mentally and as the paper is being written. Dila claims that if you are careful, cautious, mindful, and prepared from the start, you can finish with the masterpiece you wanted. The layout of a paper is the foundation for the final product. Your writing from the first sentence can not be so called “shitty.” It’s better to make revisions as time goes on throughout the paper.
Personally, I feel that I lean more towards Lamott’s strategy because I overthink things and when trying to write in a structure like Dila does I begin to find myself in a sort of writer’s block. So therefore, when I write I get my ideas on the paper first and then begin to think about the sentence structures and paragraph organization. Switching the talking point I do however like how Dila wrote his paper rather than how Lamott did because Dila’s piece allowed the reader to leave with their own opinion on how to write papers and gave insights on different perspectives but Lamott’s piece was more biased and rather told the reader how they should write papers.
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