Shitty First Tries
Everyone’s in such a rush to be good at everything. Annie Lamott knows it doesn’t work that way. Lamott is well known for her TED Talk and best-selling books like Bird by Bird. I love her honesty about writing. Shitty First Drafts is her true and torturous mantra for writers. I think it applies to anything you try for the first time.
See if you agree. Here’s an excerpt about shitty first drafts from Bird by Bird. In bold, I replaced references to writing with references to anything you pursue that’s new.
Shitty first tries. All good people make them. This is how they end up with a better second try and terrific result, eventually. People tend to look at successful people and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great idea they have; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, making fully formed creations. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very successful people, who you love and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them does something great on their first try.
Very few people really know what they are doing until they've done it.
- Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott; edits in bold by me.
This passage is like a Mad Lib for life. It’s fun to re-read it with different pursuits in mind. A college student finding his passion. A developer building a new feature. My daughter learning to drive. A salesperson trying a new pitch. An athlete trying a new move. A parent trying a new skill.
All first tries are shitty.
