Anne Lamott - Shitty First Drafts Vocabulary

Key vocabulary terms, metaphors, and figures from Anne Lamott's essay 'Shitty First Drafts'.

Anne Lamott

A successful writer who has published fourteen novels and nonfiction books since 1980, known for her self-deprecating humor and openness about topics like alcoholism, depression, and faith.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Anne Lamott's 1994 national bestseller published by Anchor in New York, from which the essay 'Shitty First Drafts' is excerpted.

Shitty First Drafts

An essay by Anne Lamott on writing process that argues almost all good writing begins with terrible initial efforts that allow a writer to explore ideas before refining them.

Child's Draft

Lamott's term for the first draft, in which a writer freely pours out ideas and lets their childlike imagination channel voices and visions without fear of outside judgment.

Down Draft

A phrase used by a friend of Lamott to describe the first draft, where the writer simply works to get words down on paper.

Up Draft

A phrase used by a friend of Lamott to describe the second draft, where the writer fixes up the draft to communicate more accurately.

Dental Draft

A phrase used by a friend of Lamott to describe the third draft, where every sentence and detail is carefully checked and examined like individual teeth.

Muriel Spark

A writer who reportedly felt as though she was taking dictation from God every morning, an approach Lamott describes as a hostile and aggressive position.

California magazine

The publication for which Anne Lamott wrote two-day food reviews before it folded.

One-inch Picture Frame

An object on Lamott's desk that she stares into when feeling overwhelmed to remind herself to write only a small short assignment, such as a single shitty opening paragraph.

Reader Lady

One of the internal critical voices Lamott faces while writing, described as a vinegar-lipped figure who primly dismisses her writing as uninteresting.

Emaciated German Male

A critical internal persona described by Lamott who writes Orwellian memos detailing her thought crimes during the writing process.

William Burroughs

A literary figure referenced by Lamott as an internal critic who dozes off or shoots up because he finds her writing as articulate as a houseplant.

Mouse Jar Exercise

A mental exercise taught to Lamott by a hypnotist in which internal critical voices are visualized as mice, placed by their tails into a mason jar with the volume turned down, allowing the writer to return to work.