Before I started reading Bird by Bird, I thought it was going to be a boring and instructional book on how to write. I expected to almost be put to sleep by it, and skim it at best. But when I started reading it, I realized that I was not bored in the least bit. Yes, it was a book on how to write, but it was written in a way that made it interesting. Lamott didn’t simply lecture the audience on what they should do; she shared stories and anecdotes from her life and applied them to writing skills. She made me have a different perspective on writing, especially when it comes to writers block and the purpose of writing.
However the part of the book that sticks out the most to me is the chapter entitled “Shitty First Drafts”. Instead of taking the normal approach towards unappealing writing, Lamott says to embrace it. According to her, the shitty first draft is something that you have to deal with in order to make any progress. Like “gen eds” you have to complete them to get to the good stuff or the stuff that you care about. In a sense, these drafts are like a rite of passage. I think that this advice will stick with me for the rest of my writing career. Whenever I start writing something that I don’t like or that just isn’t working, I get frustrated. I often want to give up or toss the idea or approach away. But now I realize I will just have to think of these less-than-brilliant drafts as a gateway to my final masterpiece. Lamott says that while most of your first drafts are “shitty”, there is some material in there, even if it is just a sentence or phrase, that is worth running with. It’s as if you have to write 1000 words in order to get about 30 good ones. But once you have those 30 inspired words, the rest of your piece will flow right along. The other 970 were just there to guide you along.
I think that the concept of shitty first drafts can be applied to other aspects of life. One aspect for example would be in the working world. You have to have some degrading jobs (i.e. doing monotonous work in a law office for hours at a time) in order to work your way up to the job of your dreams. Shitty first drafts also apply to finding true friends. You won’t know what a true friend looks like until you’ve had some shitty ones. I think that this principle will cause me to not be so critical of myself or my situations. For example, college has been a hard adjustment. But if I think in Lamott’s terms, I can label this the “shitty first months”, make some friends, join some clubs, and go on to have an amazing college experience. I love that this book gave me advice that I can use in both my writing and my life.
However the part of the book that sticks out the most to me is the chapter entitled “Shitty First Drafts”. Instead of taking the normal approach towards unappealing writing, Lamott says to embrace it. According to her, the shitty first draft is something that you have to deal with in order to make any progress. Like “gen eds” you have to complete them to get to the good stuff or the stuff that you care about. In a sense, these drafts are like a rite of passage. I think that this advice will stick with me for the rest of my writing career. Whenever I start writing something that I don’t like or that just isn’t working, I get frustrated. I often want to give up or toss the idea or approach away. But now I realize I will just have to think of these less-than-brilliant drafts as a gateway to my final masterpiece. Lamott says that while most of your first drafts are “shitty”, there is some material in there, even if it is just a sentence or phrase, that is worth running with. It’s as if you have to write 1000 words in order to get about 30 good ones. But once you have those 30 inspired words, the rest of your piece will flow right along. The other 970 were just there to guide you along.
I think that the concept of shitty first drafts can be applied to other aspects of life. One aspect for example would be in the working world. You have to have some degrading jobs (i.e. doing monotonous work in a law office for hours at a time) in order to work your way up to the job of your dreams. Shitty first drafts also apply to finding true friends. You won’t know what a true friend looks like until you’ve had some shitty ones. I think that this principle will cause me to not be so critical of myself or my situations. For example, college has been a hard adjustment. But if I think in Lamott’s terms, I can label this the “shitty first months”, make some friends, join some clubs, and go on to have an amazing college experience. I love that this book gave me advice that I can use in both my writing and my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment