Figurative Language In Anne Lamott's Shitty First Drafts

Anne Lamott 's essay, “Shitty First Drafts” explains to its readers that all writers, even the best, can have “shitty first drafts.” The essay presents the proper writing process from the first draft to the final piece of work. Her essay is intended to encourage writers who are in need of direction when it comes to writing and to teach inexperienced writers ways to become more successful in writing. Anne Lamott uses her personal experiences to build credibility, figurative language to engage the reader and provides the reader with logical steps for the writing process.
To build credibility on her processes success, Lamott uses her own personal experiences. Mentioning that she “used to write food reviews for California magazine” shows that

Her use of imagery paints a picture for the readers which ultimately helps to make learning the writing process easier. For example, when she says “the critics would be sitting on my shoulders, commenting like cartoon characters”, this creates a humorous and memorable image of shoulder sized critics (Lamott 469). This step in the process is unusual from what other authors say, yet it’s interesting which engages the reader. Lamott also uses similes and metaphors throughout the essay to explain what it is like for most struggling writers. She states “we all often feel like we are pulling teeth” when it comes to constructing and composing a piece of work (Lamott 468). This simile makes Lamott feel more relatable to the reader because this is a feeling that most inexperienced and discouraged writers go through. Saying things like “feel despair and worry settle on my chest like an x-ray apron” only connects the reader to Lamott even more (Lamott 469). Once the reader becomes engaged and forms a connection with what the writer is saying and feeling, continuing to read the essay is easy. At this point the reader wants to know what can be done to shake the feelings of “despair and worry” when it comes to