I never realized it until I read Shitty First Drafts, but when I write I try to skip the first draft. Rather than throwing all of my thoughts down and not caring about how it sounds right then, I write my first draft as if it is my final. I always want my paper to be the best possible. When I was in high school I realized I preferred typing my essays because I could go back and add/change whatever I wanted as I was writing; doing so did help me to structure my papers well, but I completely skipped my shitty first drafts. Shitty first drafts help you get all of your thoughts down in an unorganized way. As someone who loves to see progress, comparing a shitty first draft to a final draft will most likely make me feel very accomplished. The quote from one of Anne Lamott’s friends, “you either type, or you kill yourself,” reminded me of the seven-minute exercise we did in class on Friday. That was the first time I have ever forced myself to write continuously. What I wrote sounded boring when I read back over it, but I mentioned a lot of different things and can go more into detail on my next draft.
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