Drafting A Masterpiece

Anne Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts," Lorrie Moore's "How to Become a Writer," and Gail Godwin's "The Watcher at the Gates" were all essays that encouraged writer's to continue writing past the obstacles at hand. "The Watcher at the Gates" and "Shitty First Drafts" really focused on letting go of what people, including yourself, tell you is not good or acceptable in your writing at its principle stages. Writers in their beginning stages should be attentive to getting their ideas down on paper before they worry about what people are going to say about it. If they write thinking what critics will say, it crushes their creative flow and makes it really difficult to get anything that they might really like in their final product down on paper. "How to Become a Writer" deals more with writing about whatever a writer feels like writing about. In other words, if I wanted to become a writer then I should go and write. It shouldn't matter to me how other people view my writing because in the end there are always some people who are just not going to like it. If I like it, then it is enough.

Lamott uses her life experiences to give advice on writing a first draft. She uses anecdotes to set the mood and comes off very much like a teacher or professor giving a lesson to students. She really tries to give her reader someone that they can relate to and say "Hey, she's a very smart writer and so are all of her colleagues. If they are like me with their first drafts, maybe I don't suck as much as I thought." Moore however uses her life, real or made up I'm not quite sure, to tell a story on challenges that writers will often face and have to overcome. She wants people to see the true, non glamorous life of a writer to show that if you are put down in your work you can't let it get you out of the game. Perseverance is the key in any job. Godwin writes like a informer. She wants others to realize that their creativity is being stifled by themselves, and that they can stop it. She gives helpful tips on crushing the "Watcher" and letting yourself be free of its scrutiny.