"Shitty First Drafts"

To Start:
Read "Shitty First Drafts," an excerpt from Annie Lammot's book, Bird by Bird. Then, answer the questions. (You may answer in a GoogleDoc or on paper, but commit to just one for the week.)

• What's the point of a first draft, according to Lamott?
• How does she suggest that authors go about writing drafts?
• What ideas from this reading can you use in your own work?

In Class:
First, we're going to examine some example stories and a draft of the rubric for this project. 

• Read through the rubric.
• Spend ten minutes reading through at least part of one example story. 
  • Beyond the Beads
  • Motivation in Morocco
  • The Weeds of the Past
• Use the rubric to evaluate the example story.
  • Write areas that need improvement in the column on the left.
  • Write areas that go above and beyond the criteria in the column to the right.
  • Write the score you think the story earned in the center column.
• Let me know, in person, on your post-it, or via email, if you have any suggestions for the rubric.

Then we'll have work time. Use it wisely to get words down without being a perfectionist.

At Home:
Continue working on your first draft as needed. They are tentatively due in class on Thursday.