Journal Three

Lamott talks a lot about writing a shitty first draft in order to get a good finished product. She believes that a shitty first draft is the best way to find the “perfect line” for the opener, or the perfect way to end the story, or anything at all. She believes that someone in this shitty first draft is at least one gold nugget of excellence that will make the “waste of time” all worth it in the end. She believes there is no writer who can just sit down and write a perfect essay/paper/editorial/book. It’s a process that requires time and effort. As for me, as I am not a professional writer, I will definitely need first, second, third, and sometimes even four drafts to get a good paper worthy of an audience. I do believe that somewhere hidden in every essay is the perfect line that will spark the paper and lead it toward greatness, it is just a matter of finding it among the mess of the drafts.

I enjoyed when Lamott talked about how no writer can just sit down and write a bestseller. Not that I believed that was how they did it, I didn’t exactly realize it took that much frustration and time (as well as anxiety). I thought professional writers had an easier time that the “average” person when writing but that may not be the case.

When writing my first draft, I will take into account much of what Lamott said. Before, I took first drafts as an annoying waste of time. Now, after reading a chapter from Lamott’s book, I learned that the first draft is very crucial to a good paper. Even great writers have “shitty first drafts.” In fact, they use their shitty first drafts as a stepping stone to what will become their final draft. Lamott’s book taught me not to feel frustrated when my first draft is utterly atrocious. I plan on making the best of my first draft and trying to write it well but I will not get angry or upset when it turns out badly. I just want to be able to find that one piece of writing that will inspire my writing into making the paper good. For me, rough drafts are about both the product and the process. The first draft gets all the jitters and cobwebs out as well as helps to reach the final draft. As a non-professional writer, I do not write every day. I need a first draft to get used to writing again. Using transitions, attracting the reader, describing the situation, all require constant attention. Without the constant attention, those skills become faulty. I need the first draft of a paper to strengthen those skills again (aka to practice the process). As for the product, writing a good first draft (which is rare) almost ensures that the final draft will be excellent. Even if a terrible first draft is what you get, it is no reflection of how your final draft will turn out. Using Lamott’s ideas and suggestions, my first draft will (good or bad) help me write a good paper.

Journal Three

Lamott talks a lot about writing a shitty first draft in order to get a good finished product. She believes that a shitty first draft is the best way to find the “perfect line” for the opener, or the perfect way to end the story, or anything at all. She believes that someone in this shitty first draft is at least one gold nugget of excellence that will make the “waste of time” all worth it in the end. She believes there is no writer who can just sit down and write a perfect essay/paper/editorial/book. It’s a process that requires time and effort. As for me, as I am not a professional writer, I will definitely need first, second, third, and sometimes even four drafts to get a good paper worthy of an audience. I do believe that somewhere hidden in every essay is the perfect line that will spark the paper and lead it toward greatness, it is just a matter of finding it among the mess of the drafts.

I enjoyed when Lamott talked about how no writer can just sit down and write a bestseller. Not that I believed that was how they did it, I didn’t exactly realize it took that much frustration and time (as well as anxiety). I thought professional writers had an easier time that the “average” person when writing but that may not be the case.

When writing my first draft, I will take into account much of what Lamott said. Before, I took first drafts as an annoying waste of time. Now, after reading a chapter from Lamott’s book, I learned that the first draft is very crucial to a good paper. Even great writers have “shitty first drafts.” In fact, they use their shitty first drafts as a stepping stone to what will become their final draft. Lamott’s book taught me not to feel frustrated when my first draft is utterly atrocious. I plan on making the best of my first draft and trying to write it well but I will not get angry or upset when it turns out badly. I just want to be able to find that one piece of writing that will inspire my writing into making the paper good. For me, rough drafts are about both the product and the process. The first draft gets all the jitters and cobwebs out as well as helps to reach the final draft. As a non-professional writer, I do not write every day. I need a first draft to get used to writing again. Using transitions, attracting the reader, describing the situation, all require constant attention. Without the constant attention, those skills become faulty. I need the first draft of a paper to strengthen those skills again (aka to practice the process). As for the product, writing a good first draft (which is rare) almost ensures that the final draft will be excellent. Even if a terrible first draft is what you get, it is no reflection of how your final draft will turn out. Using Lamott’s ideas and suggestions, my first draft will (good or bad) help me write a good paper.

Journal Three

Lamott talks a lot about writing a shitty first draft in order to get a good finished product. She believes that a shitty first draft is the best way to find the “perfect line” for the opener, or the perfect way to end the story, or anything at all. She believes that someone in this shitty first draft is at least one gold nugget of excellence that will make the “waste of time” all worth it in the end. She believes there is no writer who can just sit down and write a perfect essay/paper/editorial/book. It’s a process that requires time and effort. As for me, as I am not a professional writer, I will definitely need first, second, third, and sometimes even four drafts to get a good paper worthy of an audience. I do believe that somewhere hidden in every essay is the perfect line that will spark the paper and lead it toward greatness, it is just a matter of finding it among the mess of the drafts.

I enjoyed when Lamott talked about how no writer can just sit down and write a bestseller. Not that I believed that was how they did it, I didn’t exactly realize it took that much frustration and time (as well as anxiety). I thought professional writers had an easier time that the “average” person when writing but that may not be the case.

When writing my first draft, I will take into account much of what Lamott said. Before, I took first drafts as an annoying waste of time. Now, after reading a chapter from Lamott’s book, I learned that the first draft is very crucial to a good paper. Even great writers have “shitty first drafts.” In fact, they use their shitty first drafts as a stepping stone to what will become their final draft. Lamott’s book taught me not to feel frustrated when my first draft is utterly atrocious. I plan on making the best of my first draft and trying to write it well but I will not get angry or upset when it turns out badly. I just want to be able to find that one piece of writing that will inspire my writing into making the paper good. For me, rough drafts are about both the product and the process. The first draft gets all the jitters and cobwebs out as well as helps to reach the final draft. As a non-professional writer, I do not write every day. I need a first draft to get used to writing again. Using transitions, attracting the reader, describing the situation, all require constant attention. Without the constant attention, those skills become faulty. I need the first draft of a paper to strengthen those skills again (aka to practice the process). As for the product, writing a good first draft (which is rare) almost ensures that the final draft will be excellent. Even if a terrible first draft is what you get, it is no reflection of how your final draft will turn out. Using Lamott’s ideas and suggestions, my first draft will (good or bad) help me write a good paper.

Journal Two

“What She Gave” by Anne Lamott was an intriguing read. It started off as very critical and a rather harsh interpretation of a mother’s contribution to the growth and development of her child. Lamott tells vividly of the atrocities with which she was forced to deal with in growing up. Before she even touches on any of that, however, she tells a very short narrative which provided a beautiful transition from present life to a reminiscent account of her life. The basis of the transition was her son saying, “But you’re my mom…I’m supposed to come to you with my problems.” This transitioned into Lamott wishing she had a mother in which she could bring her problems to. In fact, “she [Lamott’s mother] was my problem.” This clearly is not a way a child should think of her mother and this was a tear-jerking moment for the reader. Lamott did this beautifully. She employed pathos to the fullest right here. No one likes to hear a child think badly of their mother, but most people can see how she feels because chances are they have experienced a time or two where their parents acted differently that they “should” have. Throughout the memoir, the reader feels her pain along with her and, finally, feels the inspiration and lessons learned.

Lamott’s intended audience is basically anyone who has had a parental figure or has been a parental figure. Lamott is able to keep her audience interested because of the story’s relevance because all of her readers’ knows just what she means when she talks about a parental figure not doing the “best” possible. Everyone has experienced is and thus, everyone can relate to her feelings. “…parents were supposed to affect the life of their child in such a way that the child grows up to be responsible, able to participate in life and community.” All parents can see that as their responsibility and all children can think of a time when their parents played that significant of a role in their lives.

Lamott changes her approach drastically toward the end of the memoir, again providing the typical flip-flop that everyone experiences. She gets a sudden inspiration while looking into her child’s eyes that her mother actually gave her a lot of things to become a great person and parent. Lamott’s mother instilled in her the traits of generosity, “survival,” and a “gift for friendships.” Despite Lamott thinking her mom was somewhat of a failure of a mother, it turns out that she actually was very effective at instilling great characteristics in her child and thus her grandchild.

In my memoir, I hope to be able to as effectively utilize pathos, because that is what makes a good memoir great. I also want to be able to captivate, and hold the attention of, my audience. I want to be able to reach my audience effectively and make my story relatable to as many people as possible. I want my memoir to be great and doing all of these things will help me do so.

Journal One

As a college student, I have obviously written an abundance of papers on various topics of different lengths. One thing I have learned from all the writings I have done is my strengths and weaknesses. In junior year, what was a weakness for me became a strength. I had a teacher who was very big on research-based papers. That was a weakness for me until I did a bunch of them for her and research papers are now a great strength of mine. I have done research papers on authors and their books, historical people and their contributions to the world’s history, scientific developments, and (most proudly) about the creation of Levittown, Long Island. Both of my parents were born and raised in Levittown. I was able to do research on a piece f my family history. To go the extra mile for the paper, I interviewed my grandfather who lived there as well as his neighbors to see their take on the development of the cookie-cutter town. Another strength of mine is, depending on the type of paper, it is easy for me to organize my thoughts and get them into words. I can very easily organize my thoughts with research papers and interviews. When I have a structure for the paper, I can usually write a good paper easily. I have been inspired to write well by multiple things, including authors, historical events/locations/people, and music. One of the authors who has inspired my writing is James Patterson (http://www.jamespatterson.com/). He writes crime novels beautifully and I wish I could be able to write even half as well as him. When visiting family in Levittown, I had an epiphany about what to write for a history paper (http://www.levittownhistoricalsociety.org/history.htm). Whenever I listen to any song written by Jack Johnson, I am inspired to write (http://jackjohnsonmusic.com/home).

However, two of my weaknesses are writing science-based lab report type papers and creative writing. Neither of them have ever been easy for me. Lab reports I have been able to write and get god grades on them but they have always been a struggle for me to start and finish. I love the sciences and I am a forensic science major, chemistry option but unfortunately writing lab reports is never easy for me. I can understand the topic and what needs to be done but getting my ideas down coherently is not easy. I eventually get it done and receive a good grade but it is never easy for me to do so. Creative writing just never works out well for me. I have a good imagination but I can never put it into words that make a good story, which to some extent frustrates me. My imagination is good but I can’t put in on paper. To begin getting better at lab reports and creative writing, I will use this class to write more and more types of each. Repetition is the surest way to get better and more comfortable at writing creatively. Also, in my chemistry lab, I will have lab reports to write so I will use that class to get more comfortable and more easily write lab reports.