September 21, 2019
While reading Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” , I will admit that I wasn’t in a reading or writing mindset, so I had a hard time focusing on the task at hand. But once I forced myself to read it, I was really into it. I thought that she had several great points about how every writer needs to write that “bad” draft before their work can go anywhere good.
“Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it”
Anne Lamott
I enjoy this quote not only becuase of it’s brutal honesty, but because of the connection I have with it. Personally, I have a very hard time accepting the fact that I can’t know what I’m writing until I’ve written it. I’m the type of person who likes to know how things work before I do them, but that’s not how the world works. Reading this thought from an actual writer is reassuring. Knowing that a professional writer experiences the same thoughts and feelings I have makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing .
Revision Plan Strategy
For revising this paper, I want to first, actually finish my paper that way I have content to edit. After that, I hope to have a paper that is coherent and articulate, unlike the way I speak. By revising this paper, I plan on having a piece of writing that points out how metaphors are a tough thing to use when it comes to medicine. Though they are essential for people to understand us, sometimes they’re not used in the right situation.
The steps I plan on taking in my revision are:
1. Finish my paper
2. Go through and review the sentences
3. Take out ones that don’t make sense, shorten some, lengthen others
4. Check for spelling errors
5. Check for grammar errors
6. Read through again and make sure it makes sense
My biggest challenge will probably be making the essay sound like a piece of writing instead of the way I speak. I have a tendency to use the wrong type of punctuation because I wasn’t really taught anything about it in high school.
The other big challenge will be to remain stress-free and calm while writing. I forget that the first few drafts are drafts, meaning that I don’t need them to be perfect the second they hit the page. I need to remind myself that I can make mistakes the first time around and that I’m able to fix them later on.
If another challenge appears and I’m unable to solve it on my own, I know that I can talk to my mom and my best friend. My mom just so happens to give presentations for a living so she’s great at knowing when to add emphasis and where certain words should be added. My best friend though, wants to be a writer once we graduate college so I know that I can ask her for help because she’s a genius when it comes to writing.
If I can’t get to either of them for help, I know that I can use things like dictionary.com and thesuaras.com. Also, Purdue Owl is a great way to find answers to questions about writing, instead of just searching through google.
