Claire Tidey 2/6

This weeks readings focus on the topics of first drafts and with our first draft of MWA 1 coming up, some of us may need it. The Praxis reading begins with a passage called "Shitty First Drafts" written by Anne Lamott. Lamott states that "the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts" (Lamott) which is her point throughout the passage. This is particularly true for me, I have to use my paper as a dumping ground before I can figure out what exactly my point is that I am trying to get across. However this is not true for everyone, some need to edit as they go and try to figure out the minor details later on, this is what Dila portrays in his article "Rethinking Shitty First Drafts." Dila explains this as "obsessively revising" (Dila) where he thinks that this is the best way to write. He explains writing a paper like building a house. Dila states, "The builder has all his materials on site. He begins pouring cement for the foundation, it is uneven and the cement is somewhat watery, but he can’t stop to fix it. He begins hammering the walls up. They are cockeyed, and a bit shaky, but no problem, he can fix them later. He begins working on the roof. Oops. Forgot the electrical wiring. Well, he’ll get it later." (Dila) This can be argued and may be true for some but what Dila mentions that Lamott never addresses is that one way of writing will not work for everyone. Dila addresses the fault in Lamott's article, Lamott doesn't accept the fact not everyone writes differently. We are all writers in this world. We are all different. Therefore we are all capable of writing differently. This weeks readings showed very different sides of a very similar argument and it ties in so great with the next assignment coming up this week.