Shitty First Draft
For me, this reading was more helpful than the first. Not that there is anything inherently new or ground breaking, but sometimes the simple things really get me focused. Here we had an article that told us that being shitty is a great start, which was more encouragement than most previous teachers have given me. Yet the concept makes a great deal of sense, it is better to just start letting ideas flow, and then worry about cleaning up and editing later.
I agree that writing should be a work in progress, however it almost never is for me. Typically writing for me is talking to myself in my head debating what the right thing to say is, or how to best structure the essay, until I submit to the frustration of writer's block and just watch Netflix until I come up with a new idea. So this article definitely speaks to me in this sense, and I am going to try to apply this to my own writing. Admittedly, last year I only had 2 1,000 word papers due, and those were on philosophy, so my nonsense first drafts in deed actually made sense, and I never had to think about editing and making multiple drafts. Now that I have many more papers to write this year, using this method may help me out a lot in the long run. If i can save time by just jotting down any ideas at all instead of wrestling with my own brain, then it's definitely worth attempting. I know personally i get impatient and I hate the process of rereading the same uninteresting material over and over to perfect every sentence for professors who don't care a whole lot about grammar. But, especially going forward in this course, this is a process I should get familiar with. These longer essays seem very daunting and I've been thinking, how can I possibly write this much? Hopefully a shitty first draft will be the answer.
Lastly, I found it encouraging that this author points out that their author friends also have to suffer through this tedious process (except for one). And it goes to show that even a professional with experience has to go through the steps, then it probably is best for us to do so as well.
I agree that writing should be a work in progress, however it almost never is for me. Typically writing for me is talking to myself in my head debating what the right thing to say is, or how to best structure the essay, until I submit to the frustration of writer's block and just watch Netflix until I come up with a new idea. So this article definitely speaks to me in this sense, and I am going to try to apply this to my own writing. Admittedly, last year I only had 2 1,000 word papers due, and those were on philosophy, so my nonsense first drafts in deed actually made sense, and I never had to think about editing and making multiple drafts. Now that I have many more papers to write this year, using this method may help me out a lot in the long run. If i can save time by just jotting down any ideas at all instead of wrestling with my own brain, then it's definitely worth attempting. I know personally i get impatient and I hate the process of rereading the same uninteresting material over and over to perfect every sentence for professors who don't care a whole lot about grammar. But, especially going forward in this course, this is a process I should get familiar with. These longer essays seem very daunting and I've been thinking, how can I possibly write this much? Hopefully a shitty first draft will be the answer.
Lastly, I found it encouraging that this author points out that their author friends also have to suffer through this tedious process (except for one). And it goes to show that even a professional with experience has to go through the steps, then it probably is best for us to do so as well.
The funny thing, at least to me, is that the more i just let my brain wander o'er the keyboard as it were, the less intimidating length requirements become. It's freeing, in a real way, to allow yourself to be imperfect, to use far too many adjectives, to let the idea at least get from brain cells to bits before pulling out the knives on it.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, every time I discover that a writer I respect has the same issues with first drafts as well, everyone, I feel so much better about my attempts.
I agree with you about the comforting aspect of this article and the fact that it was more useful than the first. I enjoyed it because it was real, true and cut straight to the point. I too, in high school, was always taught that there was a process and a right & wrong way to do everything. Through this mindset, I often saw writing as somewhat intimidating, thinking that everything I jotted down had to be worthy. I loved reading this article because of the way it made me feel that writing is a process that should be enjoyed and not rushed or formatted, because everyones writing experience and style is different.
ReplyDeleteHi Tyler
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see that you will adopt first drafts to your writing process and that you connected with the frustration of starting a text; most people have the same obstacles. I loved reading this reflection!