Anne Lamott is a great and accomplished writer who claims in her book Bird by Bird that any writer, especially great ones must write bad first drafts, in her words writers need to let it “all pour out” on the page, they need to get all of their feelings and ideas down on a page. She believes that this is the inherently correct way to do things because writers, no matter how good, should put everything out there because if they can take even one great thing out of that awful first draft, then in the end it is all worth it.
Another great and accomplished writer, George Dila believes that despite his immense respect for Lamott, she is incorrect. Dila equates writing to building a house, and that any great builder will not allow a bad house to be built just to go back and improve on it. He believes that when writing it is best for him and for some other writers to not let their writing get to the point where it needs improving, they obsessively improve upon it until whatever they have written matches their usual standard of writing. They continue at this pace until they have finished whatever they are writing and while they do go back, there is much less to revise.
So who is correct? Well, both of their claims are extremely valid, however Dila included something in his article that made what he claimed more relatable to me as a reader. While he claims his method of continuously improving is what works for him, he also says, that is not necessarily the correct way to do things, and that every writer should write at their own pace, and in the ways they believe are best for themselves. Personally, when I write I use a mix of both Dila’s and Lamott’s writing styles. I do often write bad drafts and will go back to revise them, however, much like Dila, in the moment that I am writing I cannot bring myself to put anything down that is not up to my personal standard.
Leave a Reply