In Anne Lamott's, Shitty First Drafts, the sentence that stood out to me the most was that, "Very few writers really know what they are doing until they have done it." I have never related to a thought so much regarding my writing due to the fact that I am the last person with ideas shooting into their head with clear direction of where I am headed with my piece. I am the type who thinks as I go. Being that I am not the most confident with my writing, reading Lamott's selection was sort of a sigh of relief. It was comforting to learn that even the highest paid and most talented writers struggle to make elegant first drafts. It is liberating in a way to be able to write a first draft without rules and limitations. What I discovered most is that the importance of writing a "shitty" first draft lies within the need understand how to edit yourself when that is what it all comes down to. Shitty First Drafts was a very helpful read for me because it assured me that brilliance is born from shit and well-- we all produce it.
Throughout chapter 1 of “The Bedford Book of Genres,” I learned that there are a variety of ways to improve one’s writing. Several writers tend to get carried away while writing that they forget who their audience is and what message they are trying to deliver. This is when one must ask themselves what their purpose of writing is, do they want to present a narrative/ tell a story, inform, or persuade. After figuring out ones purpose they must choose a genre to be able to shorten their idea and be concise. In order for this to occur one must know the basic qualities and agreed-upon rules about the genre they are composing. Once one makes those decisions they move on to the rhetorical situation which mainly explains the idea. This allows the writer to provide support on their purpose such as saying what is great about it or provide statistics, which will automatically make their writing more interesting for the audience to read, as well as, get t...
I agree that reading this piece was encouraging for a non confident writer like myself, and the part about how writing a first draft without limitations is liberating! This was a very helpful read.
ReplyDeleteI too think as I go and would struggle with what to write, but like you this reading reminded me that even the best of writers start off with their works flawed.
ReplyDeleteThe sentence "Very few writers really know what they are doing until they have done it," also stood out to me when I was reading this piece. It made me feel less insecure about my writing actually. I agree that this piece was very encouraging to a non confident writer.
ReplyDeleteI was able to relate to your response when it comes to the whole "thinking as I go" and not having a clear direction of where my writing is going when I start. I also agree when you bring up the fact that writing a first draft is liberating.
ReplyDeleteI can relate with the ides where you say you are the last person to have a clear idea of the direction you are taking with your writing because I am the same way when I start writing for anything
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