I totally agree with Anne Lamott’s essay “Shitty First Drafts” because that is typically how I write my first drafts, but someone does end up seeing my first draft. My first draft was a little longer then it needed to be, but it took me forever to write. I thought I had a solid start with my introduction, but when it came down to writing the rest of the essay, I took me a day to stop procrastinating and get what I wanted to say down on the paper. I read it over and my classmates did as well, and we saw the same errors. I would stray away from the question and wouldn’t fully back up my thesis. When I saw Lammott’s approach was very similar, I was relived I wasn’t alone. Now I am ensured that my first draft doesn’t need to be the greatest piece of writing that I’ve ever written. I just have to take it in steps and “trust the process.”
My goals for my final draft is to coherently put out what I want to say. I want to make it a little bit more about intertwining the two subjects instead of straying away from the main goal. I want to add a couple more quotes to effectively answer what I am trying to say. I will first, need to read over my paper and look at the TED talk I chose and the essay to see where there are spots I can incorporate there views into my work to back ups what I need to say. Then I need to ensure it truly makes since and that editing is ok. lastly I need to make sure I put into the essay only things I need to say and leave out the extra, irrelevant stuff. My biggest challenge will be taking out things that shouldn’t be in there because I feel like it would all be relevant to me, but I need to look at the rubric and as my self if it is truly relevant. If the chalet does occur, then I just need to take more time and grind through it. I can also talk to my SASC workshop advisor and see if she sees any suggestions to strengthen my essay and how to coherently put it.
Most people seem to have the problem of overwriting, I am different in that way because I underwrite. Its good that you are able to recognize your first draft as having too much information that doesn’t directly tie in. You can always ask someone else about the extra information in your essay and they can help you remove things that you may think are needed but actually aren’t.
I love that you are understanding of things that need to be changed. Your first draft is NEVER going to be perfect. It is going to take a lot of time and thoughts to fully put down on paper what needs to be out there. I also have the problem with overwriting because once I get on the topic, I just keep writing until I feel somewhat satisfied. One way in achieving your goal is to always think about the writing prompt and the essay as a whole. When you read your essay, you could always keep your thesis statement beside you and look at each paragraph separately. When doing this, it can remind you what your essay is supposed to be about and if everything in that paragraph correlates with your thesis.
I like how you understand that you should intertwine the ideas of the essay instead of leaving them separate. first drafts are meant to be crappy and unorganized so that you can make an even better final draft. you can edit revise and make a lot of the essay far better. your on the right track with your essay. the “shitty first drafts” are a big help to male the revision and writing process easier.