At the end of Lamott’s essay on how “Perfectionism” can ruin good writing, she leaves readers with this line:  “What people somehow (inadvertently, I’m sure) forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here, and, by extension, what we’re supposed to be writing.”

I love reading Lamott’s work because it is so accessible and because it shows us that writing is so closely entwined with everyday life, even though many of us don’t see it that way, unfortunately.  It is true that as a writing teacher, I see students struggle with this need to be perfect in their writing, so perfect that they squeeze out the life and voice of their writing in ways that hinder instead of help their essays.  An example would be the student sample for the Discourse Community Analysis.  It is so tight…so strict and set to its formula…that it makes the piece boring.  I don’t think that student was boring.  I think that student is living a pretty cool life.  Hey, she loves Harry Potter, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!  But, because of this need to fulfill somebody’s version of what a good assignment is, she let the life go out of her work.

I know I have high expectations of my students’ writing, but it’s because I value process.  Perfectionism hinders the process.  This assumption that we can sit down and write perfectly in one setting is ludicrous and harmful.  But, when we give our selves adequate time, when we step away from the process to reflect on it, discuss it, etc, we’ll go back to it refreshed, with new ideas.  That’s the point I’m trying to make in this week.