After reading Lamott’s writing and then going back and reviewing my own, it really made me feel better about my rough draft. She talks throughout about how it is perfectly okay if your first draft isn’t the best and how it is something you are able to build off of in the future when you continue to work on writing your second and third drafts. I like how she talks about writing down just any ides that you have on a sheet of paper and to just write down any sentences that come to mind. Then she says to go back and highlight the ones that you think are the most important and actually have a helpful use and could be put in the paper. By doing this you are able to get many thoughts down quick and have them all in front of you to choose the ones that make the most sense. She explains how a bad first draft happens to everyone which made me feel a lot better about mine. You just have to start somewhere and build on from there until you get to a point that you are happy with.
Revision Plan
One of my main goals to help better my paper is to make my thesis stronger. I need to make sure that the information in my thesis is being talked about throughout my entire paper so that it is able to all come together and make sense. I would really like for my thesis to be one of my best parts of the paper because it is the first thing that people will be reading so I want to make sure it is able to grab their attention and make them interested in the rest of the paper. The first step I plan to take is writing down all of the main points that I want to address in the essay so I am able to make sure that they are all included throughout my draft. Second I will put these together in sentences to make sure it is able to all flow together in an order that makes the most sense. One of my biggest challenges has been creating my conclusion. I am having trouble not just summarizing what I wrote instead of actually having a conclusion that is well written and bring the essay to a close as a whole. To solve this problem I will make sure to look at my notes I was given from the people who read my essay and take their suggestions to help make my conclusion.
Your revision strategy is clear and concise, and I wish you luck revising your essay. I have also had trouble making a conclusion that isn’t just a summary, so I can’t really help you there. However, I think that thinking about the ways your main points, paragraphs, and sentences can connect to each other may help you get down the flow of your essay.
I feel like reading her short essay really relieved some tense feelings because of how she explains that nothing is every perfect on the first try. It’s assuring to know that everyone, including her, struggles with the rough drafts. Your revision plan strategy seems very well thought out and contains good information about how you will revise. Maybe you could find something in the little seagull about conclusions to help write that paragraph.
I’m so glad you found Lamott helpful. Your plan sounds thoughtful. Consider writing about the significance of your argument in your conclusion–or what the world would look like if it ignored your “advice.”