Essay assignments are such high-stakes tasks, that we feel a lot of pressure to do serious work, and perform well, at every stage of the writing process. Sure, prewriting can be kind of fun, and outlining can get us excited about the possibilities a project can hold.
At the time of starting to write a first draft, however, the pressure starts to mount. Sometimes we can feel locked into the need to get everything perfect, that it can be paralyzing.
The thing to remember is that EVERY first draft is crappy. Everyone’s. The crappy first draft can be very liberating. If it doesn’t have to be good, then we feel a lot more freedom to get started and get it over with.
Ernest Hemingway once wrote that, "[t]he first draft of anything is shit." This statement holds true for renowned authors like Hemingway, but also for amateur writers and students alike. Consider the following excerpt from a blog post by Melissa Ward, who warns us of the danger involved with trying to write a perfect first draft:
"You’re not going to learn how to take risks, because you’ll never let yourself write anything less than perfect on the first go. FREAKING STOP IT. Write some garbage. Let it spew forth, and once you’ve finally emptied that stinking pustule, take a step away and come back later. Put on some gloves and dig through the pile you emptied out on those pages, and you’ll begin to find 5 some gems. Use them to write a good second draft, and then repeat until you have an excellent final draft."
Trust in this step of the process. Write crap. There will be plenty of time later to refine it through the remaining steps of the writing process.
Attribution:
English Composition I. Schoolcraft College.
