animal

animal

There are many things I dislike, but one that I dislike the most is not being able to write when the task at hand requires me to write; the stress that is created makes me want to pull my hair out. However, through the years I have learned how to adjust and perform, under the pressure that is created when I am faced with a writing assignment with a rapidly approaching deadline.

While reading Peter Elbow’s excerpt “Desperation Writing”, memories of the process of writing my own college essay began to rapidly flood my mind. Although my college essay turned out well, I went through over twenty drafts. My first few drafts were complete garbage. It was not until I realized that I should “just write and keep writing”(Peter Elbow, Page 67) that I began to create something worthy of being called a rough draft. Not long after, I learned another trick, “freewriting” (Peter Elbow, Page 66). I realized that the only way I could focus on the task at hand was to clear my mind of everything except the task, and I achieved this by the process of “freewriting” (Peter Elbow, Page 66); a process that requires one to write down everything that is on their mind.

In all honesty, over the years I have realized that there is no way to completely avoid being desperate when facing a writing assignment. Rarely can a person simply write perfectly in one shoot. Even Anne Lamott agrees: “I know some very great writers…not one of them writes elegant first drafts”(Anne Lamott, Page 1). I have learned that it takes time to create something beautiful, and that rushing to finish a task never ends well.




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