Dialectical Journal: Lamont, King, & Diaz

Author/Title:

Anne Lamont: Shitty First Drafts

Summary:

In this short essay, Anne Lamont steps the reader through the "Shitty First Draft." That first draft you just throw down before you can create a good second draft, and an even better third draft.

Reflection	Quote
Referencing the shitty first draft—no matter how good of a writer you are, you almost always have to work out the bad/crazy/shitty writing inside of you before the beautiful/eloquent/publishable text manifests.	“All good writers write them” (301).
I see direct links to Sarah Allen’s essay here—good phrase to connect to the “Inspired Writer” metaphor.	“…typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. […] just the fantasy of the uninitiated” (301).
Again, linking this with Allen’s piece.	“Very few writers really know what they are doong until they’ve done it. Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy and thrilled. They do not type a few stiff warm-sentences and then find themselves bounding along like huskies across the snow” (301).
I really like the metaphor here—liking the paper to something almost out of control, something that is growing, something you can allow to play and then shape and form into something mature later.	“The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later” (302).
Fair enough. Even after developing your process, testing it out, tweaking it, having success from its use; you don’t entirely take your eyes from it—you trust it, but only so far—you know you may have to change things up sooner or later.	“I would eventually let myself trust the process—sort of, more or less” (303).
Really simplistically breaking down the order of drafts—as daunting as writing 3 drafts would be to our college freshman, I think understanding them in these terms would bring a sense of relief—especially if you can nail home the message that most people write this way—it’s not all lollipops and unicorns.	“…the first draft is the down draft—you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft—you fix it up. […] And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it’s loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy” (303).

Author/Title:

Stephen King: What Writing Is

Summary:

In this brief essay, King talks to his audience about writing and how he understands it as telepathy, he goes on later to meld minds with the reader...

Reflection	Quote
The “little red wagon,” your place of vision—for King, it is the basement (why am I not surprised…)	“It’s a far-seeing place” (305).
After giving the reader a visualization, King explains we have all just experienced the telepathy of writing—the melding of minds between author and reader.	“We’re not even in the same year together, let alone the same room…except we are together. We’re close. We’re having a meeting of the minds” (307).
King’s “come to Jesus” moment—a little severe for my tastes, but I’m sure it works for some.	“…you must not come lightly to the blank page” (307).

Author/Title:

Junot Diaz: Becoming a Writer

Summary:

In this very brief essay, Diaz narrates his failure to write his second novel. This humorous personal essay really highlights the pain of writing. The two pages wrap up with success, at last, showing you should never give up (especially on your novel).

Reflection	Quote
I love the Twilight Zone reference…too bad my students won’t get it. For that matter, I really wish there was an episode of the Twilight Zone that dealt with writing…that would make for a great lesson plan!	“It was like I had somehow slipped into a No-Writing Twilight Zone and I couldn’t find an exit” (319).
This is really “THE MOMENT” for me. So many of us struggle over one paper or one essay, but here is someone struggling for FIVE years! This is the pain of writing we need to show our students—everyone bleeds over their work, it’s not just them hitting a wall over their freshman comp research paper J	“Five years of my life and the dream that I had of myself, all down the tubes because I couldn’t pull off something other people seemed to pull off with relative ease: a novel” (320).
	“…if the world is what it is so are our hearts” (320).
No miracles, just work. Lots of hard work. I wish we could give a more positive message to our students, but this is the truth, baby. Writing sucks and yours will continue to suck if you don’t keep at it…year, after year…after year…is my novel done yet???	“There were no sudden miracles. It took two more years of heartbreak, of being utterly, dismayingly lost before the novel I had dreamed about for all those years finally started revealing itself” (320).
Hallelujah! It is really painful to hear…but you got to love this mentality.	“In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyways” (320).