Shitty (first?) Drafts

I am not a fan of writing; in fact, I am quite the opposite. I find it dreadful to sit in front of a blank piece of paper or word document with the pressure to fill it with thoughtful, coherent, and interesting words. It takes me a good amount of time to write a shitty first draft, and then some to actually write something decent. Consequently, when reading Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” I smiled and felt relieved, but I saw discrepancies with daily life as well. It is true what she says about people’s view of famous writers. Onlookers read their work and think they “type fully formed passages as fast a court reporter”; but really, how can they not? Most people despite writing not one, but multiple, shitty drafts do not achieve anything great. Thus, I can relate to Lamott’s piece in the sense that I have always had to write a “down draft”, an “up draft”, and a “dental draft”, in order to get a piece of writing worth handing in to a professor. On very few occasions, however, have I been excited to show someone my work. She lacks to mention that good writing not only requires perseverance and patience, but talent and passion as well. Therefore, anyone taking ENC 2135 lacking any one of these qualities should get ready to down, up, and dental, time and time again.