Summary: Anne Lamott starts off by stating in "Shitty First Drafts" that virtually everyone writes bad first drafts, but they write them in order to make better drafts down the line.  She even describes the image of the brilliant writer sitting down to write a terrific first draft effortlessly, and how this image is rarely true.  She says that the first draft is the "child's draft" where you just get everything on paper for yourself, knowing you can make it better in time.  It's good to do this because in those ramblings, something good can be written which can be used in the next drafts.  She describes how when she was writing food reviews for California, the only way to complete the reviews was to first write a shitty first draft.  The day after she wrote the overly long draft, she would sit down, take some things out, find a good lead in the middle of the draft, and find a good ending.

Exploratory Writing:  I have to say I really enjoyed this article because it made me feel better about my writing.  I know that I have never been happy with the first drafts I have written, and knowing that writers don't like the first drafts they write is comforting.  Teachers have told me that this is true before, but for some reason, I didn't really take what they were saying to heart.  I like how Lamott gives us good imagery, describing the brilliant writer at her desk, quickly spitting out a polished draft in one sitting, and how this never happens.  I think this takes some of the mystery out of good writing: often it just takes a lot of will and time.  Maybe some people are naturally better at writing than others, but the way Lamott describes writing, it seems that anyone, with enough effort can write well.  I think having read this truly will benefit my writing because the next time I sit down to write a first draft, I'll just get everything on paper that I can, knowing it will be shitty and I can fix it up later.