Comparing Essays

All three women have very distinct approaches to their writing, and all three of the essays offer great advice to young writers who are struggling to compose their own writings. In Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts,” she talks more about the writing processes, specifically the first draft. She explains how all writers, no matter how prestigious or successful they are, start off with a shitty first draft. The first draft is a place to let your ideas run wild and then see where they lead you. It doesn’t matter what the outcome of your first draft is because no one will see it except for you. Lamott also suggest ways to quiet the discouraging voices in your head, because they prevent the flow if creative ideas on to the page. She offers a plethora of great advise to writers who are hesitant to start a project. Every single story had to start somewhere and it all begins with a shitty first draft.

Lorrie Moore suggests that created an alternate persona will help divulge the details the details of characters and set a foundation to build your story upon. “How to become a writer” is a more random and sporadic essay that jumps from different personas to help further emphasize her idea. It depicts the development of a character and the situation they are in at that time to show how easy it can be to develop further from that one starting point. In her essay she also explains that if you have a passion for writing you cannot run away from it, eventually you will draw from your experiences and end up with a manuscript. Moore’s suggestion on creating an alternate self I think is a great approach to writing. It would draw out the creative side of me and challenge me to write in a whole new way.

The last essay was “The Watcher at the Gates” by Gail Godwin. This essay focuses on the “watcher” which is your anti-muse that puts a damper on your creative output and cast doubts upon what your write. Each writer has their own watcher and their own ways to deal with them. In the essay, Godwin makes a series of suggestions on how to discourage your watcher and bring out your own creativity. She says to write at weird times and in ways that your watcher will not expect. All of the tips offered in this essay are great ways to stop young writers from being discouraged during the writing process. I think all three of these women offer great pointers to writers who are unsure where to begin and how to write. I learned a lot from all the essays and plan to use the information to become a better writer