Tuesday, January 26, 2010
"Shitty first drafts" response
While reading "shitty first drives" I had a really easy time connecting to the feelings of the authors who sit down and all they want to do from the begining is write a perfect paper, one that doesnt have to be edited or revised. Of course if we did this it would save us time and energy, but the author of the article makes a good point when she says creating a first draft that doesnt necessaraly flow is a good thing because one sentence that you write could create a whole new idea that would make the paper even better. I agree with the author when she says that alot of times those things you write down in "shitty first drafts" that make an excellent paper wouldnt come up if u were trying to write close to perfect from the get go. Just being able to relax and get all your ideas down on paper is the best way to start a really good paper. Its nice to sit down and not have all that pressure on ur shoulders, feeling like you need to be perfect, becasue eventually, your paper will be perefect, if you just relax when u start! I thought that article was really well written!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree that creating a first draft that doesn’t necessarily flow is a good thing. I think that the first step to writing a paper is making a brief outline or list of ideas of topics to include in the paper. I write my paragraph for each idea, and along the way I can check the ideas off of my list. When I reread my rough draft, I can look at each paragraph and see if there are separate ideas within the paragraph and then split it into multiple smaller paragraphs. After all of the ideas are clearly explained and developed, the organization can follow. I can decide where to place which paragraph so that the paper reads coherently, and I can work on my transitions between paragraphs so the paper flows and doesn’t read choppy. My introduction and conclusion tend to be the worst paragraphs. For me these require the most revisions. Before completing my first draft, I also try to think of a fitting, yet creative, title for my paper. Also, I agree that you need to relax when you write a paper. If you procrastinate and wait till the last minute, you will stress about even coming up with the basic ideas for your paper, not to mention the details. I like to leave myself plenty of time to work on a paper and revise it so I don’t freak out about deadlines.
ReplyDeletehttp://daphne.palomar.edu/handbook/firstdraft.htm