In Allen's essay, "Shitty First Drafts," she stated her experience while writing. When she wrote rough drafts, she released her inner-childish thoughts and poured out everything she felt and could think of. She stated, "There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you're supposed to be writing about..." (WAW 302). This was a form of discovery done by Lore Allen. By writing, she discovered ideas that may had never been found if she approached it in a "grown-up" way. She then picked out all the useless phrases as much as she could and utilized the important ones. Kleine argued something similar. He insisted that in order to make a good research paper, one would have to become a gatherer, or someone who "discovered" what could be of use to them (25). He also talked about how one could "learn" from writing. Lore Allen did not have the core ideas of her paper before she wrote them. She "learned" what it was by writing. She also had her "hunting" moment when she cleared out her thoughts and isolated one of the voices in her head (304). This was similar to Kleine's idea of writing with a purpose.
Reflection: Allen
Although the reason may be absurd, Allen's essay probably captured my attention the most out of all the articles and essays I had to read for my English classes. The reason is, as immature people can guess, is because she titled it, "Shitty First Drafts." Besides the profanity, her humor was also very amusing. Admittedly, though, I had always tried to approach my papers in a more "grown up" fashion, which would explain why my papers had always been so terrible or bland. Maybe next time, I will approach my paper in a child-like behavior and discover something brilliant in the process.
Synthesis: Lamott
In Lamott's paper, she talked about the struggles of many writers. These struggles ranged from writer's block to "bad writing" to the lack of inspiration. For her, it is the ghost of the Inspired Writer. This ghost caused her to feel that if good writing did not come easily to her, then she was not a good writer. Allen also talked about her struggle. She was also someone who did not start out with good writing. However, she believed that all good writing came from bad writing; terrible drafts that would be embarrassing to show in front of the public. In general, both Lamott and Allen could agree on one thing: that good writing comes from the process of trial and error.
Reflection: Lamott
Lamott gave a new perspective to me. She gave me a scapegoat of whom I could blame all my frustrations: the ghost of the Inspired Writer. Even writing blog posts like these, I struggled. Writer's blocks would always last longer than the "writing spree." That was what frustrated me the most. But it is nice to see that I am not the only one. That even people who are considered "good writers," can also have the same struggles.
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