In “Shitty First Drafts,” Anne Lamott expresses the need for “really, really shitty first drafts” (3). Lamott furthers her thesis by using a past writing experience as a food critic and her wanting for a pristine first draft (5) and how she eventually goes back to “writing without reining [her]self in” (6). This helps us see that all writers, even the “People’s Author,” needs to write crappily before getting a New York Times Bestseller, which they give out to everyone. However, if your draft is “healthy” (Lamott 10); the possibility of something missing, a thesis for example, you’re screwing yourself over. As more and more people have focused on that one sentence that makes or breaks the paper, the basic idea of writing is lost: the thought,
How do you allow God to take control of your life and entrust that everything will be okay? This was the type of question author Anne Lamott (2006) baffled with in these next few chapters. Lamott (2006) shares her personal life story of entrusting God in her book Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. This paper will provide a summary of chapters two thru four, combined with a personal reflection, and conclude with a few desired questions that ideally could be answered by Lamott.
Many may believe that reading a book about religion would be challenging to accomplish for someone who is not religious. But those people have never read Anne Lamott’s, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. If one were to ask non-religious college students to read a book by a random author about spirituality and “Finding God” through conversion, they would most likely roll their eyes and bear through it. In Lamott’s series of essays, one does not have to “suffer through the readings” because her writing style is one of a kind. She has strategically chosen every word because she is aware of how important her spiritual experiences are to so many people, religious or not.
Many times while I was reading this I was reminded of a saying I have heard before, “That doesn’t seem to be enough sugar for a dime.” He also described how being a writer had its’ downfalls too and that it
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.
In the article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lemott she discusses how every writer has difficulty putting their ideas on paper because writing should be seen as a process that even the best and famous writers follow. She also talks about how even the best writers don’t just come with ideas and just begin writing on paper and make it as their final draft. Lemott also points out the importance of being able to just write down every thought into the first draft regardless of the structure of the draft and how it makes it easier to start the second draft. After writing the second draft it makes the final draft a review of punctuation and grammar corrections. As a food reviewer she struggled putting her ideas together because she would start doubting
In this essay I will review how I have improved as a writer, my greatest challenges, and how has my writing changed from how it was at the start of class to now. Reflection is a powerful thing, I can still remember how it felt being asked to write an essay on my first day of class. I was so scared, would I be able to use correct punctuation and how bad will it affect my grade if I am not? I was so excited when the professor said it was just to see that we can write conformed sentences not to critique our grammar and punctuation.
Response to Shitty First Drafts Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” was non the less brilliant. I could not agree more that in order form a master piece, there needs to be a process. Just like anything else, the first time you do an activity or task, it isn’t going to be perfect, there will be some good that comes from the first time you do it, but there also is a lot of room for improvement. Lamott is an extremely successful writer and is very realistic in explaining her opinion on first drafts.
I came into my first college writing class feeling prepared thanks to you and your investment in me as a student in your AP Lang class. I developed as a writer more than I ever had in your class, and it definitely helped me in my college writing class this semester. I already knew how important it was to revise and continuously critically think about my writing, as well as the importance of multiple drafts and peer review. My English 110 class this semester was very similar to yours because we also did multiple drafts where I could revise my paper as many times as needed. The big difference was that the focus was on different genres and how to appeal to those, which was something new compared to my high school English courses.
The piece of writing which I felt was unsuccessful for me was the Rhetorical Analysis of an article relating to a topic from our course book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. This piece of writing was difficult for me to organize my ideas around. The article that I decided to use for my rhetorical analysis highlighted mass incarceration among African American and the effect of civil liberties being are taken away from these individuals. I had a lot of repetition because many of the examples I used demonstrated more than one type of appeal. I found myself repeating what the purpose of the example was and how it demonstrated proper use of ethos, pathos, and logos.
Tawney Nodland – As I look back over the past semester of English Composition, I realize that I have grown as a writer. Not onlyhas my understanding of the writing process changed, my whole attitude towards composition has too. This composition course has made a significant impact on my learning experience and has given me tools to take forward into my future educational and professional goals. Throughout this course, I have discovered things about myself as a writer and know some of my strengths and weaknesses. I now feel more prepared for future writing assignments, whether for work or for school.
The diary of a young girl: The biographical book of a young Jewish named Anne Frank. Edited by Myra H. Immell 144 pages (1998). Paperback, non-fiction. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.
After reading Richard Maruis’ essay, “Writing Drafts” and the article, “Daily Writing Tips” by Ali Hale, I found the article by Hale more useful. I feel it is more useful because it sort of gives you step by step directions, whereas Maruis gives you a variety of options. I find it helps me understand something better when it is broken down into sections. Every writer has a different writing style. Maruis’ proposes and explains different writing styles with great detail; Hale’s article get straight to the point.
Imagine how it feels to be stuck in a tiny, miniscule room for almost two years, not able to make a sound or movement and if heard by someone,death or concentration camp is the destination? The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett is about a small family which consists of Anne, Margot, Mr. Frank, and Mrs. Frank who were in a shock of fear, and went into hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Over the course of the story other characters join the family into hiding such as Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, and their son Peter. During the time of hiding, Anne kept a diary to write down all her thoughts, fears, and feelings and was later known to be the most important piece of literature from the times of the Holocaust. The story takes you through their everyday lives of hiding in the annex which also includes arguing and times of happiness.
The Diary of Anne Frank is a well-known story, one that many high schoolers even have to read in one of their English classes. Anne Frank, her family, and a few other Jews were hiding in an annex during WWII. Until one day when the police found where they were and arrested them all, taking them to concentration camps. Anne Frank’s father, Otto, was the only one to survive. No one knows who leaked the secret of Jews hiding in the Annex.
