After reading Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts”, I realize that mine felt quite ‘shitty’ to me. Part of it could be that I have little confidence in my own writing or I didn’t feel confident in my own opinion. I feel as this might be more influential in the next papers as opposed to this one. Getting the words onto the paper and being scared of saying the wrong thing is one of the hardest barriers to overcome. Just getting ideas on to the paper and choosing what you like from the lot could prove to be helpful, especially with humour as that is one of my favourite things to find in any kind of literature. As if the essay offended me, I don’t get offended.
My main focuses on revision fall into 3 categories: Answer the prompt’s question better with the thesis and beef it up to support more of my points, expand more on my claim or ‘key’ sentences, and rearrange my paragraph structure. The largest of which for me is the expanding on my key sentences, as there are some good places to jump from but I had apparently inclined to not do as at the time of the first draft. There are other smaller edits I have read from peer and tutor reviews but those are the biggest that stuck out to me.
Reading Lamott’s essay also made me realize that my writing was pretty “shitty.” Luckily, that’s what the free draft is for; a way to get your ideas down and then revise and build on them in your next drafts and build your confidence in your writing. My goals for revision are similar to yours. I also need to strengthen my thesis and better support it with my claims. I also like your goal of rearranging your paragraph structure. I like that you are taking the time to make sure everything flows and makes sense. I also think that it’s good that you are going to expand your main points and take your peer feedback into account. What do you anticipate will be your biggest challenge in editing and what will you do if you encounter one? I think your revision plan is strong.
I agree with the fact that it can be intimidating writing your own work and having others edit your work. Most people, including myself, feel the same way. Your plan to revise the essay seems very intelligent. It is important to make sure you address the question that the prompt is asking. Detail is always key when writing an essay, to help the reader better understand your writing. Lastly, the way you organize and structure your paragraph can help to better persuade the audience reading your essay to understand your points. I think you are on track for a great final draft.
I agree that most of the time in my writing I am always afraid of saying the wrong thing. But I think in this essay there really isn’t any wrong answer, it is just supposed to be your opinion. I think you have a great revision plan and it is good that you have places to jump from already, which will allow you to expand on your points more like you want to.
At first writing a college essay can be difficult, going away from the five paragraph style seems impossible. most of the time in writing I’m scared of saying the wrong thing just like you. however nine times out of ten its all up to you and how you want to picture your writing. its always good to have a revision plan and you have a great one. sometimes beefing it up like you said is a good and bad thing because you never want to say too much. your revision plan is great, I think your going in the right direction