Summary of Writing Drafts by Richard Marius Essay

I am accustomed to starting my essays by generating ideas. I like to take a sheet a paper and write down everything that comes to mind when I think of a certain subject. Next, I would do an extensive amount of research on the subject to make sure that I know enough about the subject to write a complete paper about it. Now that the research stage is done, I would then commence on writing my rough draft using the

In the article Shitty First Drafts author Anne Lamott explains what true processes and methods will help you to make your first draft and become professional writers in the future. She believes that no matter how good of a writer you are the first draft will come out as a “child's draft” meaning disproportional, disorganized and incomplete. The first draft is where you let all your ideas and thoughts pour out onto the paper where one does not have to worry about accuracy and completeness. The importance of writing first draft should not be based on sentence structure or grammar but on great amount of thoughts and ideas that might lead you in direction for the next draft. According to the author the second draft

From the start of reading “Shitty first drafts” I have concluded that even the best writers, write horrible drafts first. In the passage it even says when you start off with a shitty first draft, this is how they end up with good second grafts, and terrific third drafts. This shows that a lot of effort goes into writing an essay. You have to start from somewhere, put what comes to your mind immediately on paper. It suprises me that even professional writers struggle with writing rough drafts. The author talks about when you write a rough draft, you have to take bits and pieces of the essay out.

Reading Lamott’s and Elbow’s articles, you find many similarities that can be used to support the other writer’s point of view. However, there are also differences that both authors seem to disagree on. Both articles explain the importance of a rough draft. The rough draft is the foundation for all writer’s creativity. It is like a toddler doing art for the first time. They get a piece of paper, splash a little paint here and there, glue some feathers down, toss an insane amount of glitter on it, and done! It’s chaotic as a whole and does not really make sense. But, if you look closely certain areas of the piece really look beautiful on it’s own. Creativity does not always have to be perfect the first attempt and that is what Lamott and Elbow are trying to tell us.

As someone who can look at a blank paper for hours at a time and not have a single idea on what to say, drafting can be one of the most crucial steps in writing. It allows you to have many different ideas before setting your mind on one solid point. Drafting allows you to release all your ideas onto the paper, no matter how good or bad it is. It makes writing 7 pages of just pure nonsense, okay, giving yourself enough to work with later on when editing. It can also help you develop your ideas into more solid pieces, by taking specific parts and allowing you to elaborate on them. My Favorite quote from Anne Lamott’s Shitty First Drafts is “For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get

Reading the two articles, Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” and Donald M. Murray’s “Write Before Writing” numerous times made me realize a connection with their writing process that I can relate to. Lamott believes that every good writer, or every writer should write shitty first drafts because the writer will produce better second drafts. In her article, she gives examples of her writing struggles and gives her point of view of the writing process. In order to have a good piece of writing, one must write all of their ideas onto paper. Murray’s article gives some instructions on how to create and start a better writing. He expressed that writers should give time to what they’re going to write about, so that they can understand and make it easy on themselves. After reading the articles, I realized some of the complications I suffer within my writing process, but one strategy that I found helpful is Lamott’s drafting development strategies.

After examining “Shitty First Drafts”, by Anne Lamott, and “Write before Writing”, by Donald M. Murray, each writing process has some good prospects. Anne Lamott is a little crazy, but passionate writer that can really surprize you. In Anne Lamott 's article “Shitty First Drafts”, she believes that any writer should write a shitty first draft, and that’s how anyone ends up with a better second draft and a “terrific third draft” .Lamott declares in order to be good, the writer needs to first allow for the words and ideas to come flowing out without restriction. Donald M. Murray, an English Professor, that has a different writing process, wrote an article “ Write before Writing” . He explains, Students who are not

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

What does the assignment “Shitty First Drafts” mean to me? I sit here reading this article it feels very familiar. One of my main problems is arranging my thoughts into full sentences. I know what I want to write, I can feel the thoughts forming in my brain; it just gets garbled up when it comes time to write them down on paper. In Anne’s first article, she spoke about writing one paragraph at a time. In this chapter she builds on this notion and suggests that we go ahead and write whatever comes to mind. She seems to say “Don’t worry about someone reading your work just write your first draft.” Take a day or two to revisit what you wrote, make the necessary changes until your writing is complete.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

Lamott compares the process of writing with the painful process of pulling the teeth. She believes that in order to produce a high quality writing, the author must first put together all their ideas and thoughts in form of the “child draft”. This draft determines the flow and dimension

According to Harris, many writers mistake editing for revising and fix small mistakes which is actually the process of editing. He also emphasizes the fact that revising takes time and a writer will never have their work ready in one draft; it will take many drafts which will be revised for clarity and cohesion. The draft itself could evolve into something different than was originally planned and writers should know, that is

Also I have learned that by doing the draft step by step as in introduction, body, and conclusion also helped me get through the process of writing the draft. Not doing all the draft at once really helped because if did not feel the pressure of having to finish it all together. First, I would do the introduction and then maybe thirty or sixty minutes later, I would do the body, then after another short brake, I would do the conclusion. This has helped a lot with my draft because between those breaks I would think of something else to include in the paper. As well as giving my self time to think this way of drafting gave me an opportunity to check me paper more thoroughly because I would check each section individually and that way I found mistakes I would have missed before.

“Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, is a hilarious must read for junior high school students and any other aspiring writers. Her essay inspires comfort and confidence in writing a first draft. It concretes that all writers experience the “shitty” first draft. Anne Lamott wrote this instructional information in 1995, but it is timeless information. She blows the idea of writing an immaculate first draft out of the water. Anne supports the idea that bad first drafts will almost always lead to better second, third and final drafts. She symbolizes the first draft to be like a child. Where you put all your thoughts and emotions out there in words on paper, you go all over the place, you say all kinds of ridiculous things, and all with the

In Anne Lamott’s essay, “Shitty First Drafts,” she explains her writing philosophy of just getting ideas down on paper and then editing them later. While some disagree with this method, such as George Dila in his critical response, “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft,” many writers employ this technique to not only better their writing, but to overcome obstacles in the writing process. Even the most successful of writers will say that they actually hate writing, Lamott even compares it to pulling teeth. The intimidation of just starting to write becomes too much and leads writers to procrastinate. For many, an overwhelming, overbearing sense of perfectionism creeps in and creates anxiety and often lead to writer’s block. Everyone writes first drafts, but if a writer allows themselves to let go of all personal judgment and permits their writing to be “bad,” then they will most likely end up with great ideas that they did not even know were inside their heads. Once these ideas are allowed to flow out, then it becomes easier to visualize a realistic way of developing them into a full composition. By writing inferior first drafts, writers can focus on and express their ideas while overcoming the difficulties typically associated with the writing process.