Your Name: Jenny Ngo Todays Date: January 15

th
, 2014
Week of January 13
th
, 2014 through January 15, 2014
Chapters Read This Week: Peter Elbow Desperation Writing and Anne Lamott
Shitty First Drafts
Pages Read This Week: Pages 130-133 & 229-232
Codes: (Q) Question; (C) Connect; (P) Predict; (CL) Clarify; (R) Reflect; (E) Evaluate
Passages From Text Page #s Response and Comments
I know I am not alone in my recurring
twinges of panic that I wont be able to
write something when I need to, I wont
be able to produce coherent speech or
thought. And that lingering doubt is a
great hindrance to writing. Its a constant
fog or static that clouds the mind. I never
got out of its clutches till I discovered
that it was possible to write something
not something great or pleasing but at
least something usable, workable when
my mind is out of commission. The trick
is that you have to do all your cooking
out on the table: Your mind is incapable
of doing any inside. It means using
symbols and pieces of paper not as a
crutch but as a wheelchair.
130 How is one not able to produce a coherent
speech or thought when we human beings
are constant thinkers? When our minds
are occupied, sometimes it tends to go a
thousand miles per hour. He uses the
reference of a fog or static that clouds the
mind as a writers block. I understand his
concept because I tend to have a writers
block. Sometimes I wouldnt know where
or how to start my writing. I believe he
will be giving examples to better enhance
one with their writing using self
discovery. Also, cooking takes
preparation. He wants us to use bits and
pieces of ideas out on the table until we
are able to gather everything to become a
more cohesive whole. This quote explains
that although you might feel over
whelmed; take your time to clear your
mind because your ideas will come
together. As in life, take your time to
tackle your tasks one by one because soon
enough, things will be done. All you have
to do is push forward.
The first thing is to admit your
condition: Because of some mood or
event or whatever, your mind is
incapable of anything that could be
called thought. It can put out a babbling
kind of speech utterance, it can put a
simple feeling, perception or sort-of-
thought into understandable (though
terrible) words. But it is incapable of
considering anything relation to anything
130-
131
How is the mind incapable of thought?
We collaborate our words and feelings
into a single thought process. Our
thoughts derive from the state of mood we
are in. If our thoughts can be put into
words, isnt he contradicting himself? I
think his message is to not lose focus on
our main points. Granted, some things are
relatable, while others are not, but I dont
believe we lose the picture of what we


Passages From Text Page #s Response and Comments
else. The moment you try to hold that
thought or feeling up against some other
to see the relationship, you simply lose
the picture you get nothing but buzzing
lines or waving colors.
originally sought out. This quote is not
quite clear to me because our feelings and
thoughts typically coincide with one
another. He shouldve given an example,
such as; the sky is blue. Some people
might not have an emotional reaction to it,
while others do. I believe he wants us to
think on a more rational level opposed to
an emotional level. Life is revolved with
both the rational and emotional level.
So admit this. Avoid anything more
than one feeling, perception, or thought.
Simply write as much as possible. Try
simply to steer your mind in the
direction or general vicinity of the thing
you are trying to write about and start
writing and keep writing.
131 Why should we stick to nothing more than
merely a single feeling, perception, or
thought? Youre supposed to let yourself
go in writing; hence, writing whatever
comes to mind. I dont think it should be
restricted because it will just hold the
writer back. The writer might have more
to say than you know. When I write, I
tend to be all over the place because it
adds more of my character. I believe he
wants us to stay focused on one thing.
This quote can help a writer focus in a
single path, but it also steers away the
general mind from its initial thought
process; not being able to voice their
whole opinions. He wants us to write and
keep writing. Life has no singular way of
thinking. It has a collaboration of all
thought processes.
Just write and keep writing. It will
probably come in waves. After a flurry,
stop and take a brief rest. But dont stop
too long. Dont think about what you are
writing or what you have written or else
you will overload the circuit again. Keep
writing as though you are drugged or
drunk. Keep doing this till you feel you
have a lot of material that might be
useful; or if necessary, till you cant
stand it any more even if you doubt
that theres anything useful there.
131 When someone is drugged or drunk, do
they really want to do nothing but write?
He should have used the reference of
letting the pen possess you to not let you
stop writing. I believe he will give useful
techniques in order to obtain some good
thought processes for writing. I do enjoy
the fact that you can write until you feel
that you have nothing left to say. This
quote allows readers to know that you
shouldnt have to think or overanalyze
your writing. Just let loose and let things
flow naturally because there might be
something useful in your writing that can


Passages From Text Page #s Response and Comments
help you with your paper. In reality, you
cant simply do whats on your mind
without having to think about the
consequences. When it comes to writing,
you can do so to a certain extent because
it brings originality.
If, on the other hand, all that writing
didnt have useful material in it, it means
that your writing wasnt loose, drifting,
quirky, jerky, associative enough. This
time try especially to let things simply
remind you of things that are seemingly
crazy or unrelated. Follow these odd
associations. Make as many metaphors
as you can be as nutty as possible
and explore the metaphors themselves
open them out. You may have all your
energy tied up in some area of your
experience that you are leaving out.
Dont refrain from writing about
whatever else is on your mind; how you
feel at the moment, what you are losing
your mind over, randomness that
intrudes itself on your consciousness, the
pattern on the wallpaper, what those
people you see out the window have on
their minds though keep coming back
to the whateveritis you are supposed to
be writing about.
132-
133
Writing doesnt have useful material
because its rigid? I believe that he will
elaborate what it means to let loose in
order to obtain numerous ideas. He wants
us to write whatever comes to mind, even
if it sounds absurd. He wants us to be
original. I write down whatever Im
feeling when it comes to our free writing,
so I can relate to his message. This quote
sums up the message for us to not restrict
our thoughts and too let go about any
worries. In life, you should be you and not
worry about how others perceive you.
The first draft is the childs 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. You just let this childlike part of
you channel whatever voices and vision
comes through and onto the page. If one
of your characters wants to say Well, so
what, Mr. Poopy Pants? you let her. No
one is going to see it. If the kid wants to
get really sentimental, weepy, emotional
territory, you let him. Just get it all down
on paper, because there may be
something great in those six crazy pages
229 If youre writing your paper, doesnt
someone see it? You yourself see if
because youre the one writing it. I
believe she wants to let us voice whatever
we want as we please. I can tend to be
very random and have a lot to say. She
wants us to not second guess ourselves,
even if we sound crazy or over emotional.
This quote tells us to not refrain from our
thoughts. In life, we will always be
constant thinkers. We come up with all
different types of ideas all the time. Being
rational, restricts the flow of letting
yourself go.


Passages From Text Page #s Response and Comments
that you would never have gotten to by
more rational, grown-up means.
But because by then I had been writing
for so long, I would eventually let myself
trust the process sort of, more or less.
Id write a first draft that was maybe
twice as long as it should be, with a self-
indulgent and boring beginning,
stupefying descriptions of the meal, lots
of quotes from my black-humored
friends that made them sound more like
the Manson girls than food lovers, and
not ending to speak of. The whole thing
would be so long and incoherent and
hideous that for the rest of the day Id
obsess about getting creamed by a car
before I could write a decent second
draft. Id worry that people would read
what Id written and believe that the
accident had really been a suicide, that I
had panicked because my talent was
waning and my mind was shot.
231 Why do we doubt ourselves? I think shell
be giving examples of how to deal with
your first draft. Writing your first draft
can be scary because you never know
what is in store. You dont know what
youll be writing until you actually start to
write. When I start writing, everything
eventually comes together. She had
several quotes from her black-humored
friends. Her friends took the meal lightly
because they felt it was just a simple
meal. She had to worry about it because
she had to criticize whats being eaten and
she wanted their opinion. In this quote,
she wants to let us know to not obsess
about things. Let things flow as they
should because you will get too worked
up over it. Writing a first draft can be
dreadful. In life, we need to learn how to
take things lighter than it really is.
Then a month later; when it was time
for another review, the whole process
would start again, complete with the
fears that people would find my first
draft before I could rewrite it.
231 Why would it be scary if it has been done
over and over again? I believe the other
passages will explain how to deal with
fears of writing. You have to write and
not worry about what others think about
you. This quote lets us know that writing
another draft can be scary. Its like
starting a whole process again. Its as if
youre doing something for the very first
time and you dont know what to do. Life
can be scary in that sense because you
dont know whats in store.
Almost all good writing begins with
terrible first efforts. You need to start
somewhere. Start by getting something
anything down on paper. A friend of
mine says that the first draft is the down
draft you just get it down. The second
draft is the up draft you fix it up. You
try to say what you have to say more
accurately. And the third draft is the
231 If some good writings begin with good
efforts, how would their paper be bad? I
think shell be providing steps to help
write your drafts. She gives clear
examples in how to start your writing off.
I take the same initial steps that she gives.
This quote is clear in what needs to be
done when it comes to writing. No matter
how bad it can be, its a start and you will


Passages From Text Page #s Response and Comments
dental draft, where you check every
tooth, to see if its loose or cramped or
even decayed, or even, God help us,
healthy.
eventually have your finished product. In
life, we all go through steps.
Close your eyes and get quiet for a
minute, until the chatter starts up. Then
isolate one of the voices and imagine the
person speaking as another voice, pick it
up by the tail, drop it in the jar. And so
on. Drop in any high-maintenance
parental units, drop in any contractors,
lawyers, colleagues, children, anyone
who is whining in your head. Then put
the lid on, and watch all these people
clawing at the glass, jabbering away,
trying to make you feel crummy because
you wont do what they want wont
give them more money, wont be ore
successful, wont see them more often.
Then imagine that there is a volume-
control button on the bottle. Turn it all
the way up for a minute, and listen to the
stream of angry, neglected, guilt-
mongering voices. Then turn it all the
way down and watch the frantic mice
lunge at the glass, trying to get to you.
Leave it down, and get back to your
crummy first draft. A writer friend of
mine suggests opening the jar and
shooting them all in the head. But I think
hes a little angry, and Im sure nothing
like this would ever occur to you.
231-
232
How can you be quiet when your mind is
constantly going at an accelerated speed?
I believe she will provide examples on
how to zone out voices in your head. She
clearly tells you to not worry about
anybody and to de-compartmentalize your
thoughts of them. Dont let people over
cloud your thought process. Nobodys
opinion matters, but yours. I used to
always worry about what people thought
about my writing, but I can care less
because its my writing. I am writing what
Im feeling and I shouldnt care about
other peoples criticism. She gives a good
example as to leave people out of your
mind, so it could be clear or free from
them. This quote sums up the way of not
letting others restrict you from focusing
on what needs to be done. The same thing
goes for life because you shouldnt let
others stop you from thinking or doing
what needs to be done.