Sh*tty First Draft? No.

By Deborah Carr

Anne Lamott first coined the term “shitty first draft” in her 1994 book on writing, Bird by Bird. Her intent was for writers to free themselves from the burden of feeling that their first draft had to be perfect, or even coherent: it just had to be written down. But while the term has been widely adopted, the spirit in which it was created has not.

As used by some writers it sounds more like self-loathing. I get it—calling your first attempt “shit” takes away the sting o...