Shitty First Drafts: Anne Lamott’s (And Jordan Tarver’s) Advice For Young Creators

I knew it was finally time to start writing my first book. I kicked the idea around for most of 2021. I felt more confident in my writing ability after publishing a blog every single day. I knew what I wanted to write about. I had an outline. But when I cracked open the word processor to write, I froze. 

Around this time, I had seen my friend Jordan Tarver gain some traction with his recent book You Deserve This Sh!t. He had been doing a lot of social marketing on TikTok and Instagram, and it was working for him. I decided to give him a call to ask how he got over the initial block of starting. 

He shared a great quote with me from Anne Lamott. She says, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.”

The wonderful thing about my call with Jordan was that he didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. I had been preaching the importance of publishing despite perfection for years. But when it came time for me to do just that, my ego got in the way. Jordan commiserated with me for a moment, and then reminded me that I just needed to start. 

I have a folder in my Apple Notes App where I’m writing this first book. The folder is called “Shitty First Draft.” Every time I go to write, I see that, and remember to set my ego aside and just write. I can edit later. I can cut the crap out once I know how much crap there is. But for now, this simple phrase has helped me put out 25,000 words and counting. 

Check out Jordan’s book here. A lot of other people have too.