journal # 3

                In the writing “Shitty first Draft” by Anne Lamott she explains to me that writing is a process that doesn’t not occur in one sitting. You really have to let yourself go when writing you first draft. It is just a time to get whatever you are thinking down onto a page. Write as if you were a child expressing your emotions fully after getting yelled at by a grown- up. Anne helps me to realize that writers are nowhere near perfect; they are just like the rest of us. They don’t just have vision and sit down once, writing a beautiful story without corrections. They all write shitty first drafts, to just get something down on paper. Then after do corrections and write an up draft which mean a fix it up draft. The process of writing is simpler than we perceive it to be. People see writing as a complex objective with only one chance to get it perfect on paper. Well it is very complex but the chances you have are limitless. If you write one time you will only get so much out of the first draft. After reviewing, editing, and adding/ deleting one will see a huge improvement in the overall quality of writing and the finished product compared to the “shitty first draft”.

After reading this I will allow myself to let it all out when writing my shitty first draft. I have actually recently been using this method in writing some of my college papers. I would just get a pen and paper and write my story as if I were just thinking it in my head. The words would not always flow but just come out as my brain told me. Because I can make scribble marks on regular paper it is more relaxing for me to use a pen than computer. When I write my first draft for my personal narrative I now have a more confident approach to start off my paper. I now know that it is ok to just write whatever you’re thinking, free of errors, and free of ridicule, just write. I know after I can come back and correct and change whatever I don’t like in the “shitty first draft”. Also I can always just start again. Even if I find only one paragraph that is relatable to my topic I know I have made a successful first draft. It is really just to get your mind focused on your topic while you let everything else out the window. It may be that the one paragraph you found could be the hook/conclusion/topic, or introduction to your story that was really needed to make your story readable.

Overall I would say just to let things fly when coming to starting a write. You can always come back and correct your mistakes, and change whatever is not fit for your paper. Anne knows as a writer you feel like you’re pulling teeth just to get down a rough draft. Writing doesn’t have to be like this. After you write a shitty first draft your writing will get better and overall bring it together and make your writing a much more relaxed journey to a finished paper.

journal 2 "shirt worthy"

            After reading the piece “shirt worthy” there is a lot of memoir and pathos described into the read. Although they are more indirect then direct, you obtain and understanding for both of them. This pertains to an older crowd of retired rockers realizing how much the rock and roll industry has changed. While back then it was all about going to see your favorite band and getting a t- shirt after a long and grueling concert through “blood sweat and tears” as described in the reading; Now receiving a t- shirt is as easy as going to hot topic to get one.

            The narrator of this story is a rocker who has now become a father and is no longer in his glory days. He has a son now who loves the Romones band and desperately wanted a Romones T- shirt for his 10^th birthday with no real reason besides that he “wanted one”.

             The father thinks back to his days as a minor and his first concert where he came very close to being “shirt worthy” while his brother bought a shirt and he borrowed it. He did not know the rules to wearing and owning a rock and roll t-shirt. His brother explained to him that wearing a “Pleasant Dreams” T-shirt and or “rock and roll paraphernalia had to be hard-won, meaningful and scented with personal experience.” You couldn’t just wear the shirt without having meaning behind it. Not that anyone these days would notice, especially in the state of Ohio.

 The father set out to the mall where he found the new era of rock and roll, starting with the store that changed it all, Hot Topic. He then realizes how much it has changed and there is no real meaning behind these t-shirts compared to his day. He bought the Romones T-shirt for his son but his pathos regretted not explaining to his son the real meaning of owning one. The father knew times had changed.

The boy was ecstatic and thanked the father. The father was in a state of only caring for his son, he didn’t want to let his memoirs take over when raising his child. While at a cook out the boy first wears his new T-shirt. He is running around with the other children enjoying his appearance, as the parents sit and talk on the patio.   

Soon after the boy comes up crying to his father, he ripped the new Romones shirt on the fence. One of the parents said “no, that’s good you made it better.” The father new this was true because it now had meaning to the shirt but he couldn’t explain this to his son at a time like this. He was afraid of bringing back memoir on his son.              

Instead he bought the son a new shirt and then the father would now own a ripped Romones shirt and was now “shirt worthy”.

Communicating in a world of conversation

In my time of both writing and speaking, I've had my ups and downs in the English language. As a writer it is a great way for me to express myself and show emotion on the paper. Writing at times is easy for me, being able to just freehand and talk what I am thinking on paper is simple. Although, it is much more complicated in the writing world we live in. I know I need to improve on my ability to organize thoughts into a controlled pattern. In just, I need to follow the rules of writing more. In example my overall grammar and organizational skills in essays are not where I would like them to be. I have strength in detailing my stories, keeping my reader interested. Though realizing there is also a certain science to writing which I need to get down pact. Learning how to explain myself with proper writing techniques is essential to my writing success.  I know there is a lot I still need to learn about English and hope to learn the most I can over this course semester. Books in general help me escape the everyday life and become involved in whatever world the book I am reading is in. For me setting is an important part of understanding where the writer is coming from. One book I love is Hatchet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatchet_(novel) . Although I haven’t read it in a while, the book has great detail in the setting of the wild and how the young boy reacts to the new situations. While stuck in a forest alone with dangerous obstacles ahead of him, the boy fights to survive. Also, The alchemist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alchemist_(novel) is an interesting book in motivating the reader on making good life decisions and following your dreams. The writer takes you on a journey with a Sheppard boy who is in search of his own personal legend.