Anne Lamott (1995) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

The Author., Ann Lamott is writing about writing. Mostly about how to complete your final draft of anything. It will always start with a first draft. Everyone’s does, no matter who you are. This is an interesting article that was a homework reading assignment in English 111. During our first few English classes at the beginning of my first semester of school in some 30 something years, our assignments were to write. Lamott really has this whole concept of first drafts down perfectly. After my first assignment, when all I did was get the facts down on paper, I had my husband read what I had at that point. Well, I will never again do that. That was one of the most depressing days in my life. I cried and realized that there is no way that I will be able to write anything, ever. But, since then I have learned and I am in total agreement with the author here. Your first attempt at writing anything is really going to consist of sometimes very illogical thoughts and mostly facts. This is also very similar to our lives. Think about it. You remember as a child your parent’s telling you, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. We sometimes have to try, try again at many things in life. If we don’t fail sometimes and learn from our mistakes, we can never appreciate our successes when we have them.

Our final drafts will usually always be a success. We have to take the time to have a first draft and not be embarrassed by it. As the author states, write like no one will ever see it and then you can revise it. That is exactly what happened to me. I will always write my first draft as if no one will ever see it, and I will show it to no one, because I know that the final version will be well worth reading. And so I hope that my English teacher agrees.