"Shitty First Drafts" - A Review (Week 3 Reading Assignment #1)

In Anne Lamott’s essay, “Shitty First Drafts,” taken from her book Bird by Bird, Lamott talks about the idea of writing the first draft of a paper and not worrying about what structure or coherent ideas come forth, instead she talks about just letting the words flow. This process is strongly associated to the idea of Stream of Consciousness as it is referred to in the realm of Psychology, where Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, defines the term as, “… [Stream of Consciousness] refers to the flow of thoughts in the conscious mind.” According to Wikipedia William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher was given credit for developing this concept.

Lamott approaches the subject of writing the first draft of a paper with a very informal point of view; this informal style helps to reinforce the very idea of writing an informal first draft. This form of drafting is a very useful tool when the idea of writing a large paper seems overwhelming as one begins the process. The suggestions that she gives are useful and will be integrated into the writing process of many of the students in this class. As stated earlier, it can be difficult to begin writing a paper when the task at hand seems so large and daunting, this technique of letting one’s thoughts just flow is a great way to get over the first hurdle and begin on the path to writing a beautiful and well thought-out paper. There is nothing more satisfying than to read something that you have written and be taken into the flow and the natural harmony of the words as they seem to move the reader through the paper like a poem.

Stream of Consciousness (psychology). Wikipedia. 28 Nov. 2007. 11 Feb. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_(psychology).

Lamott, Anne. "Shitty First Drafts.” Language Awareness: Readings for College
Writers. Ed. by Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 9th ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2005. 93-96. http://wserver.crc.losrios.edu/~morales/Readings/Lamott,%20Anne%20-%20Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf.