Shitty First Draft — Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird) - Study Notes

Overview

• Speaker: Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird (Some Instructions on Writing and Life) and various nonfiction works. Mentions her background (born in San Francisco, 1954; education at Goucher College; roles as food reviewer, book reviewer, columnist). Emphasizes writing and reading as forces that reduce isolation and deepen life.

• Central idea: All good writers write shitty first drafts. The process of drafting is essential, messy, and iterative; the first draft is merely a starting point that will be revised into something coherent and meaningful.

• Context: Lamott discusses writing as a practice learned through repetition, fear, and revision, not through instantaneous brilliance. She shares anecdotes from her own career (restaurant reviews, teaching, and writing routines) to illustrate how real writers work.

Core concept: Shitty first drafts

• Definition and purpose:

  • A shitty first draft is the raw, unpolished start of a piece of writing.

  • All good writers produce these rough drafts; the point is to get something down on the page before worry about perfection.

  • The first draft is a necessary step that enables later clarity and potential brilliance in subsequent drafts.

• Anticipated expectations vs reality:

  • The fantasy: writers sit down, feel great, and produce fully formed prose instantly. Lamott rejects this as the fantasy of the inexperienced.

  • Reality: many great writers start with discomfort, fear, and a lack of confidence; the hard work comes in revision.

• Key mantra:

  • You must start somewhere. The first draft is the down draft; the second draft is the updraft; the third draft is the dental draft where you check every tooth. This metaphor signals a staged refinement process.

The writing process as practiced by Lamott

• The daily struggle and misconception:

  • Even successful writers don’t wake up enthusiastic or overflowing with confidence. The work is often gritty and imperfect.

  • Lamott explicitly notes that she does not write elegant first drafts; she writes shitty first drafts and then improves them.

• Practical examples from Lamott’s life:

  • Restaurant reviews for California Magazine: the lead paragraph often fails; she would start with overly long description and quotes from friends, then trim and restructure in revision.

  • The rule learned: trust the process and write a draft that is longer than needed, embracing digressions that can later be cut.

  • The idea of a draft that is “twice as long as it should be” with self-indulgent starts and florid descriptions, followed by fierce editing.

• The emotional arc:

  • Fear and panic are common: worry about losing talent or being discovered as incompetent.

  • The self-doubt is a constant companion, but it can be managed through disciplined practice and revision.

The three-draft framework (metaphor)

• Down draft: the initial, rough pass to get ideas, scenes, and language onto the page without self-editing.

• Updraft: the revising draft where you say what you really have to say more accurately and tighten structure.

• Dental draft: the final sweep to check every tooth, ensuring correctness, coherence, and polish.

• Takeaway: The progress from rough to refined happens through iterative drafts, not through a single perfect draft.

The inner voices and the “quiet the voices” technique

• Lamott describes multiple inner critics that interrupt the writing process:

  • The vinegar-led reader lady: signals that the draft isn’t interesting enough.

  • The emaciated German male: writes memos detailing your thoughts, a harsh internal editor.

  • The parents: nagging about loyalty and discretion.

  • William: a caricature of a harsh external judge; often personified as a critic.

  • The dogs in the pen: physical or psychological worries that threaten to derail writing.

• The challenge: these voices can dominate the writing session and make the process painful or paralyzing.

• The strategy:

  • Try to close the door on these voices while drafting.

  • The “latch” on the pen-delaying pen must be opened only later; the first draft should be allowed to be messy.

• The metaphorical goal: keep the inner critics at bay long enough to get the draft down, then address them in revision.

The hypnotist jar exercise: a practical method to manage inner voices

• Anecdote: A hypnotist (Lamott’s friend) gave exercises to quiet mental chatter.

• Steps described:

  • Close your eyes and get quiet until the chatter starts.

  • Isolate one voice and imagine the person speaking as a mouse; pick it up by the tail and drop it into a Mason jar.

  • Repeat for other voices (parents, lawyers, colleagues, children, or anyone whining in your head).

  • Put a lid on the jar and observe the mice clawing at the glass, jabbering away.

  • Imagine a full volume control on the bottle; turn it up to hear the stream of voices very loudly, then turn it down to quiet them, returning to the shitty first draft.

  • A writer friend suggests opening the jar and shooting them all in the head; Lamott notes that this may reflect anger in some people.

• Purpose of the exercise:

  • A cognitive tool to reduce internal noise and regain focus on drafting.

  • Helps separate the act of drafting from the intrusive voices that question worth or direction.

Practical insights and examples from Lamott’s life

• The lead and the description: in restaurant reviews, the lead paragraph can be bloated and the description of the meal over-elaborate.

• The core lesson from the review process:

  • It’s a piece of chicken; not every description needs to be grandiose—the priority is getting to truth and readability.

• The phrase about the first draft’s function:

  • The first draft may be long, meandering, and full of quotes; the second draft trims, restructures, and refines.

• The ethical and emotional posture:

  • Writing is a discipline that acknowledges fear, self-doubt, and social expectations, yet persists through revision.

• The personal belief about the craft:

  • The process is about “trusting the process” and allowing one’s inner visions to surface in the draft, even if they seem imperfect at first.

Key quotes and aphorisms worth remembering

• "All good writers write shitty first drafts."

• "Not one of them sits down routinely, feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident."

• "The first draft is the down draft. The second draft is the updraft. The third draft is the dental draft where you check every tooth."

• "You can either type or kill yourself" (describing the pressure to write; used hyperbolically to emphasize commitment).

• "The final draft is the child draft where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place… knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later."

• "Starts with something, anything down on your paper. The first draft is the down draft; the second is the updraft."

• "It is just a piece of chicken" (Lamott’s reminder to keep descriptions grounded and honest rather than inflated).

• "Open the jar and shoot them in the head" (humorous, blunt suggestion from a friend about silencing inner critics).

• "Bird by bird" (her famous phrase for tackling writing step by step, and a broader life philosophy about gradual progress).

Connections to broader writing principles and real-world relevance

• Fundamental principle: writing as a craft is iterative and non-linear; revision is where most value is created.

• Alignment with general pedagogy:

  • Free writing and non-editorial drafting in early stages to overcome perfectionism.

  • Structured revision process (down/up/dental drafts) to build coherence and style.

• Real-world relevance:

  • Even professional writers and journalists experience panic, doubt, and writer’s block; success comes from routine, practice, and revision strategies.

  • The concept of a “lead” versus description illustrates how planning and trimming are essential in professional writing.

• Ethical/philosophical implications:

  • Embracing imperfection early on can reduce self-judgment and protect mental health while maintaining creative ambition.

  • Recognizing the social dimensions of writing (audience, editors, readers) and balancing honesty with craft.

Takeaways for your own writing practice

• Embrace the shitty first draft: allow yourself to write poorly at first to unlock ideas and voice.

• Use the three-draft framework: down draft (free flow), updraft (clarity and accuracy), dental draft (polish and correctness).

• Expect fear and self-doubt; plan to work with it, not against it.

• Quiet the inner critics temporarily to preserve momentum during drafting; address them in revision.

• Practice with concrete routines:

  • Start by getting something down on the page, even if it’s not perfect.

  • When stuck, write a longer lead or description and trim later; don’t abandon the draft.

  • Consider using metaphors like “bird by bird” to break tasks into manageable steps.

• Use practical exercises (e.g., the jar visualization) to manage mental noise and maintain focus during drafting.

Quick study prompts

• How does Lamott redefine the purpose of the first draft? What is the role of fear in the drafting process?

• Can you describe the three-draft framework in your own words and give an example of what each stage might look like for a given assignment?

• List the inner voices Lamott identifies and describe a strategy to quiet each one during drafting.

• What is the function of the jar exercise, and how might you adapt it to digital or classroom writing practices?

• Reflect on a time you experienced drafting anxiety. Which of Lamott’s strategies could have helped, and how would you apply them now?

References mentioned in the talk

• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

• Lamott’s discussion of writing, revision, and the role of the writer in society