Shitty First Drafts Response

I found this article very relatable. Trying to figure out what to write in a paper makes me want to pull my hair out. This is why I’ve never been a fan of writing. Probably until I was a junior in high school, English had always been my weakest subject. I dreaded going to class, reading, and writing. I figured out this was because I always handed in my first draft as my final draft or my teacher made my class write a paper in our 50 minute period. I didn’t plan out my papers or go back and clean up my first draft. This obviously resulted in me getting poor grades. Mrs. Mitchell, my junior year English teacher, forced my class to outline our papers, create a first and second draft, and had us bring each draft into class to discuss with her. She also only gave us a broad topic and let each student do whatever they wanted with the paper. This class changed my perspective on writing/reading. I have actually grown to somewhat like writing and have even written pieces for myself on my own time. As for reading, the books they required us to read in high school were terrible. I work as a lifeguard in the summer and have had to time to sit and read books I actually find enjoyable. I still can not stand the process of starting a paper and creating a first draft, but my final draft always makes me proud of myself for how far I have come in my writing.