Shi**y First Drafts

Now, practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shi**y first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. People tend to look atsuccessful writers, writers who are getting their books published and maybeeven doing well financially, and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who writebeautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft.

Besides, perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness andplayfulness and life force (these are words we are allowed to use in California). Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.

Your day's work might turn out to have been a mess. So what? Vonnegut said,"When I write, I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in his mouth." So go ahead and make big scrawls and mistakes. Use up lots of paper.Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist's true friend. (Anne Lamott)


Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life