Jack Pingel

This week, one of the readings was about first drafts and how to write them. The reading is titled “Rethinking the shitty first draft” by George Dila. In this article Dila claims that he does not write “shitty” first drafts even though other authors, such as Ernest Hemmingway, claim that all first drafts are “shitty.” I thought this was an interesting article because I have never thought of any of my first drafts as shitty. Anne Lamott said “The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.” I partially agree with her comment because when I write my first draft of anything I tend to just “let it all pour out.” However, I don’t think that just because I am letting all my thoughts pour out on to the page makes it shitty. In fact, I think that my first drafts are beautiful. If it thought that my ideas were shitty then I would not express them on the paper. What is the point of doing something if you think that it is shitty? Everything that I do, I do it with confidence. I take pride in all that I do. I would never classify something of my own as shitty, even if it actually was shitty. It seems as though Dila is a huge perfectionist considering he tries to edit every line he writes after he finishes writing it. To an extent, I am somewhat like him in that aspect. Except I do not edit obsessively like he does. After I have finished articulating a certain idea, I will go back and read it and see if there is any way that I can get my idea across clearer or better. So, considering I have a similar writing method as Dila, maybe that is why I do not feel as though my first drafts are shitty. I do not allow my drafts to be shitty because by the end of the paper I have already gone through my paper and edited what I feel needs editing. This does not mean that all my first drafts are perfect. After I make my first draft I usually like for someone else to read it and give me feedback on what their thoughts are. From there, I attempt to make my second draft even better than the first.