I'm taking a creative nonfiction class this semester, and something that my teacher has told me time and time again is, "The real writing takes place during revision". I've come to realize that this is SO true. My current piece started out as a shitty first draft. All first drafts start out needing lots of TLC. That's why they call it a draft! Over the last few weeks, I have been meeting with my teacher every Wed. afternoon to keep working on my draft. Now that I look back on my first draft, I barely even recognize it!
Something else pertaining to revision that I really love about this class is that we do large group workshops of our pieces (3 people per session). Rather than focusing on purely the aspects of the essay that need improving, we also focus on the positive! This way, we don't feel like our work is being ripped apart. I can say from personal experience that being ripped apart is only acceptable to a certain degree. There comes a point where it just becomes too much, especially if the editor doesn't focus at all on the positive.
Do you agree with me on the shitty first draft idea? What do you think about revision?
