Bruce Ballenger The Importance Of Writing Badly Summary

I agree with Bruce Ballenger because people who write freely with errors are more concern on the topic. When I write an essay there are always errors and it makes me feel like I am not smart enough or not at a level where I should be.

Furthermore, according to Duncan Carter’s article, Five Myths About Writing, “Years of well-intentioned English teachers have responded to students’ first drafts as if they were supposed to have been perfect. Combined with a pedagogy which suggests that revision is a form of punishment, it is not hard to see where students get the idea that good writers don’t have to revise” (Carter, 82). Growing up, high school teachers make it seem as if revising and editing your paper is the worst thing ever. Any student who worked long and hard on their assignment and turned it in to get revised, would hate to receive a paper back with nothing but red marks and errors written all over them. This initially gave people the mindset of forgetting about editing their work if all it did was tear them down and point out their mistakes.

Because of this, I make mistakes structuring it correctly or even punctually. In high school, I took a college English class that would allow me to advance in my writing skills. However, the class only focused on using transition words, and nothing else. In this English 1001 class, I have learned to write my paper with fewer structure mistakes. However, I was never good at writing my paper that was punctually correct. In the past, I was told to never use the word I in any writing assignments. This often confused me when I was writing the research paper. Sometimes, I would not punctuate my sentences correctly after the signal phrase. In the essay, I wrote, “At one point, a professor said…”and I forgot the comma after the signal phrase very, said. Slowly, I was able to use this format and express my opinion on the research. Unfortunately, I still make those mistakes unintentionally and it often hurts my grade. In the first essay, I did well on expressing my ideas, but structurally, I did not do so well. By rewriting the essay, I hope to earn a better

From the start of reading “Shitty first drafts” I have concluded that even the best writers, write horrible drafts first. In the passage it even says when you start off with a shitty first draft, this is how they end up with good second grafts, and terrific third drafts. This shows that a lot of effort goes into writing an essay. You have to start from somewhere, put what comes to your mind immediately on paper. It suprises me that even professional writers struggle with writing rough drafts. The author talks about when you write a rough draft, you have to take bits and pieces of the essay out.

In Anne Lamott’s essay, “Shitty First Drafts,” she explains her writing philosophy of just getting ideas down on paper and then editing them later. While some disagree with this method, such as George Dila in his critical response, “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft,” many writers employ this technique to not only better their writing, but to overcome obstacles in the writing process. Even the most successful of writers will say that they actually hate writing, Lamott even compares it to pulling teeth. The intimidation of just starting to write becomes too much and leads writers to procrastinate. For many, an overwhelming, overbearing sense of perfectionism creeps in and creates anxiety and often lead to writer’s block. Everyone writes first drafts, but if a writer allows themselves to let go of all personal judgment and permits their writing to be “bad,” then they will most likely end up with great ideas that they did not even know were inside their heads. Once these ideas are allowed to flow out, then it becomes easier to visualize a realistic way of developing them into a full composition. By writing inferior first drafts, writers can focus on and express their ideas while overcoming the difficulties typically associated with the writing process.

I was pushed constantly to work harder at my writing. I studied and practiced several new techniques and methods for prewriting and organizing the essays I found so hard to create. At first, I had quite a few bad days and quite a few subpar essays. My grades would vary greatly from paper to paper. This really scared me, as I hoped to keep myself from drastically dropping in my grades. Yet, I wanted to maintain my grade point average so I had no choice but to succeed and impress around every corner. I began to pour in, even more, work and apply all of the newly learned skills from that class into my mind. I hoped that soon I would be able to find a system for writing that helped me form proper

Kane would mark through my essays where my grammar lacked, and I corrected those errors as I did more writing. Drafting and revising allowed me to see different perspectives of writing that I can include in my essay in order to lengthen it and for it to be academic. I tended to write in first person in my body paragraphs which was a major error, but I corrected that after seeing the notes that were on my revision sheet. Grammar mistakes weaken your essay since, you lose the reader of how the essay is supposed to flow, and I revised my common mistakes and avoided them throughout my essays in order to keep the reader engaged. What also helped me to write this essay was the textbook, everything’s an argument I would read the about the topic we were on, view samples of essays and I got a hint of how the essay should be. These strategies improved my writing whereas when I began this class my writing was weak and unclear and now that I'm approaching the end of this class my writing is on a college level scale and this will help me in my

Unlike reading, when writing, it is important that grammar, spelling and vocabulary terms are used correctly, therefore restricting me from writing in the way that I would prefer. The most stressed phrase while in high school was, "It is not the content of the essay, but rather the mechanics of grammar and speech that are most prominent." Unfortunately, I have never been one to enjoy the art of writing. In fact, I was recently given a diagnostic test, determining at which level I write and whether or not I should be upgraded to a higher achieving English class. Unfortunately, I did not pass the test with flying colors. This was not due to the fact that I am incapable of writing a good paper, but rather that I am unable to write in a limited amount of time, using the emphasized principles of correct; grammar, vocabulary and spelling. In the reading, Shitty First Drafts, by author Anne Lamott, it is a fact that in order to write a brilliant paper, a first draft must be created. According to Lamott, "The Only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts, all writers write them." (94) This is a quote in which I can relate being that in order for me to begin a final draft, I must first have written a first draft, usually one that is in absolute

When writing my papers in English I was never sure what topic, I wanted to write about. I rotated between two, one being “The Mistreatment of Animals in Zoos” and the second and my main topic being “Is College Worth the Cost.” When writing these papers, I noticed something about myself. I had grown as a writer compared to when I first walked into English 1100, I had some writing experience but not much my grammar lacked and I was the queen of sentence fragments. Throughout the semester during English 1100, my writing skills improved. From learning, how to format works cited page correctly to learning how to analyze a source. My writing improved wonders with each paper. My paper I, I struggled extremely with formatting issues and how to

Unlike reading, when writing, it is important that grammar, spelling and vocabulary terms are used correctly, therefore restricting me from writing in the way that I would prefer. The most stressed phrase while in high school was, "It is not the content of the essay, but rather the mechanics of grammar and speech that are most prominent." Unfortunately, I have never been one to enjoy the art of writing. In fact, I was recently given a diagnostic test, determining at which level I write and whether or not I should be upgraded to a higher achieving English class. Unfortunately, I did not pass the test with flying colors. This was not due to the fact that I am incapable of writing a good paper, but rather that I am unable to write in a limited amount of time, using the emphasized principles of correct; grammar, vocabulary and spelling. In the reading, Shitty First Drafts, by author Anne Lamott, it is a fact that in order to write a brilliant paper, a first draft must be created. According to Lamott, "The Only way I can get anything written at all is

When I stop to think about the memory’s that I have made during my first semester of college; there are both good and bad pieces or times that present themselves. Often with many things there are gray areas, and writing would fall in there for me. I fortunately understand now that I have times where I can over look many of my writing flaws. Such as sentence structure! This by far was my biggest problem in this class, and I fully understand why. Personally I have times that will type up a paragraph and never notice the mistake. That is until someone points it out to me. It’s almost like my brain knows that something is wrong with it, but for some unknown reason it won’t register when I’m revising my paper. So as a writer I have realized that I need to take advantage of people around me and get their feedback on my essay’s; because

When I started this semester in English 111, I wasn’t must of a writer. I made a lot of grammar errors that a novice writer would make. Over the semester I have improved my writing skills due to this class. In the beginning of the semester we were asked to write an essay to see what type of writers we were as an individual. I struggled to write that first essay, because I would over think the essay while in deep thought thinking what the professor would think of my writing. Furthermore, I showed my writing skills as writer and scored a high grade on my first essay that I was overthinking. However, I realized that I made some that I made a few minor errors in my first essay of the semester. For example hooks are

Coming into Huntingdon writing was always something that came natural to me. When assigned a topic I would always wait till the last moment to start. My normal grade was a B with little to no effort on my part. That all changed when I wrote and turned in my first college essay. All my papers through out my freshman year at Huntingdon have came back with the same markings alluding to grammatical mistakes. That trend as followed me from English 105H to English 106H.I feel like I have turned in some of my best works of writing during English106, but my grades have fallen. Even taking my papers to Jackson to be revised has not worked in my favor. Yeah, some of my minor mistakes would be taken care of, but I would still get my paper back full

The one mentioned in the article is about confiding in your writing teacher self. This is such a funny way to say it, but it’s so true. Teachers need to look at their teaching and make considerations moving forward. The first step is to consider how well your students write and how you know. This makes so much sense in my head because understanding the “how” part is so crucial. Teachers can back their writing instruction on facts and evidence. The second step is to reflect on what you know about and how comfortable you are teaching writing. Ding, ding, ding. This one was the most important in my mind. Teachers should admit they aren’t comfortable with every aspect of writing, if they aren’t. There are so many resources we can use to help us become more confident with writing, so we can teach our students through our knowledge. Culham mentions seeking workshops, conferences, etc. through your administration. I plan on using that advice. The other steps included, making decisions to stop what’s not working, focus on one practice that energizes you and your students, change a practice that you and your students despise, and lastly further your knowledge through professional books. All these steps are so helpful. They focus on parts of writing that can be

I am a person who can remember never having read more than two books in a year, and in fact I did not read one book in ninth grade. One of the memories that upsets me most is that in English classes where students were expected to develop or improve their writing skills, teachers would grade my essays “Excellent.” The reason why I am upset is because currently I am having difficulty with fragments, agreement, and other grammar issues that take forever to sort out. Back then, I really had been led to believe that my writing skills were excellent. Needless to say, most teachers in public schools are just trying to survive, and sometimes they can be careless about how they lead students on. This has a lot to do with why the majority of public school students do not attend elite colleges such as Yale, Harvard, or Princeton. We just never had a chance. Those doors were closed on us a long time ago.