I feel like my experience of writing a first draft was a bit different from Lamott’s description. I, like her, also felt that just getting out the words and ideas without worrying about quality was a good thing, as I can also get paralyzed when first starting a paper. I tend to not know how to start things correctly, even if I know what I want to say, because I want it to be good the first time. However, she mentions in her writing that nobody has to see the first draft, which is the opposite for us: multiple people have to see the first draft. In this class, our first drafts do have to be somewhat good, even if they’re not perfect. I also didn’t really like that she bashed people who do write smoothly and get things right on the first draft. I don’t think there’s any right way to make art, and it kind of came off like bitterness or jealousy in her writing.
Revision Plan Strategy:
My goal in revising my paper is to improve the the content of it by adding Peter Singer’s shallow pond analogy and EA’s concept of replaceability when it comes to artists. I also want to make my opinion more clear throughout the essay, as several of my peers commented that I presented too much evidence without giving my take on the subject. I will take several steps to amend these problems:
- Review all feedback I’ve gotten from my peers and combine identical or similar comments, so I can get a good idea of what problems I need to fix
- Amend small-scale issues , so I can get them out of the way and make it easier to focus on larger problems
- Consider if there are any problems with the essay’s structure, and find places to add in extra content
- Write and add extra content (shallow pond allegory and replaceability)
- Amend large-scale issues with the essay
- Review essay one last time to check for grammar, spelling, structure, and flow
I think my biggest challenges with this part of the essay writing process will be writing the sections for the shallow pond analogy and replaceability. I had originally forgotten these parts when writing my essay for the first time, so it may be difficult finding a place where they fit with the already established structure of it. It may end up sounding disjointed, and I’ll need to edit the essay further.
If I have trouble with this step, I know of a couple resources I can use. I have my English books, They Say, I Say and The Little Seagull that may have some useful information on adding new sections to an essay. If I can’t find what I need there, I’m signed up for weekly Writing Lab classes, and I can ask my teacher there to look over my essay for me and help me revise it.