“Shitty First Drafts” – In this essay, Lamott is speaking to a very broad audience it seems. It appears as if she is writing to anyone who is having to write or type up something. I say this because I know a majority of people who struggle with starting off a papr for school, and this essay points to those who do struggle.
“Responding—Really Responding—to Other Students’ Writing.” -The audience that Straub is writing to is those who struggle with giving helpful advice for their paper, or just help with any writing in general. He talks bout how when commenting on someones work, that you should give as much advice as possible to help make it better. Also, he explains that when responding, give as much details as you can, meaning that you are to the point with what you are trying to say.
I personally feel like I can already be a better writer just after reading these two pieces. They both give information that can help a lot not only in our english class writing our essays, but also in other classes, or even professional work areas. I learned that everyone does write a “shitty first draft” and I don’t feel as bad about writing a bad draft. But I also learned about how to look at my paper to help narrow all of the facts down to improve for my second draft. Trying to get thoughts down is always a struggle for me, and after reading the essay by Lamott, I now have a better approach to have to my drafts for any essay. What I learned in Straub’s essay, is to how to apprach giving advice to someone on their paper. Getting thoughts down on paper isn’t my only struggle, but giving feedback is another. It is hard for me to grasp sometimes what it is someone is saying, and I sometimes don’t know how to say it. After reading what Straub had said, I know now how to kind of go after giving feedback on someones paper, and how to help as much as I can.
I like how Straub made this comment in his piece, “Try to imitate the teacher. Mark what he’d mark and sound like he’d sound. But be cool about it. Don’t praise anything really, but no need to get harsh or cut throat either. Get in and get out. You’re okay, I’m okay. Everybody’s happy. What’s the problem?” I found this interesting because it is how I feel sometimes when commenting on a student’s paper. Sometimes I strongly disagree with a comment they put in, but I remember that it is not my paper, and I can’t change their writing. I simply just have to correct the grammatical errors, make a few comments, and give it back.
I like how Lamott had explained how she got her ideas from the conversations she heard from her friends at the restaurant, down to paper. I found this entire paragraph interesting because she talks about the stress she has about creating a draft, and about how she has to cross so much out until she can get a successful draft going. I just found it interesting because it may be something i try out in the future when trying to write a draft and am struggling getting my ideas and thoughts into one good sounding draft.
joshhayes06 