Shitty First Draft for Paper 1
Creating
my first draft for Project 1 was pretty similar to Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First
Drafts”. She successfully related to me and touched on many of my key issues. I
knew what goal I was trying to accomplish throughout writing the essay, but at
times I struggled to find the exact words I was searching for. I felt better
going into the writing knowing that I am not the only individual who finds it
to be a challenging process. Personally, my biggest obstacle is starting from a
blank sheet of paper to then create a clear and concise essay. I have never
truly enjoyed writing, so it was overwhelming knowing all of the writing that
was ahead in the essay.
Lamott’s article reassured me because she
emphasized it is a trial and error process that will come together over time.
One of the quotes from her article that helped me throughout my first draft
was, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts”. At times I
would feel discouraged about how my essay was flowing, but I overall liked my
concepts. This quote calmed me down because I knew I could come back to these
areas for draft two and revise the structure of my wording. I would not say my
first draft experience was not any different from the article and that it
covered all of my challenges when it comes to writing. I am thankful I read it
before this essay because it made me feel more confident when approaching my
obstacles. “Shitty First Drafts” has definitely been a beneficial read and I
will carry on Lamott’s advice to my future writing.
Trust me, you are not the only one who struggles when it comes to putting words on a blank page. I love to write but I always dread this starting point. You never know if the words that are coming out are going to be good or just nonsense. I agree with you, "Shitty First Drafts" did make me more confident and was very beneficial for me in this process.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though we both were able to gain something from shitty first drafts and it did help us in our writing process. Also as the comment above already stated your not the only one who has troubles putting words to a blank page and as you did I also found it all a little overwhelming when first looking at how much writing was in this first project.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and feel that we both were positively impacted by the article. I also was struggling trying to start my essay and found nerves creeping in. However, I found that using her technique allowed it to be much easier to write the essay. This article does make writers more confident and more calm when it comes to his or her writing.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad that you were able to relate to "Shitty First Drafts" in your first writing experience in this class. For some reason, no matter how many times I reminded myself that it doesn't have to be perfect, I stressed myself out way too much about the expectations of the paper that are coming in the near future. The quote you referenced is a really good reminder that it's okay to have to try a few times to make something a good piece of writing, so I'm definitely going to keep it in mind when writing my next draft!
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