Blog 2-Shitty First Drafts

Writers block is an epidemic across every college campus and somehow, I feel I have the worst case of it. Writing this blog alone is an uphill battle and currently I feel like I’m falling down the hill. The case of hovering your fingers over the key board just waiting for something magical to happen is a never-ending occurrence in my case. Just when I feel as if I have a well thought out and clearly stated idea I proceed to slam on the backspace and think to myself you can do better. But just like “Anne Lamott” I’ve learned this process is a means to an end. Somehow a decent paper is always the result after the tedious process of writing and rewriting. This was the case regarding my college application essay. I wrote about a project I did with my Student Government Association and wrote the first draft and thought to myself, “Wow this is amazing you’re getting into every college ever.” I sent this first copy to my mom, sister, and counselor and they all retuned it massacred with corrections, it was bleeding red ink from top to bottom. The feeling of dread lingered while I attempted to fix all these errors and when I thought I’ve done it I sent the second draft to all three of them again. Just like the first time I was returned a paper filled with corrections on grammar, spelling, and clarity. I began to think this essay will never be good enough and I won’t get into the schools I was most hopeful for. I then proceeded to keep trying to fix this essay and send it to them. It was sent back another five times before a final draft proved to be effective. This long and drawn out process demonstrated what all the editing and double checking could lead to, and that was my acceptance into the THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERISTY.