When I was doing college essays, I received numerous e-mails from various schools concerning writer’s block, and they offered very similar tips. “The first essay you write doesn’t have to be the final version you submit, so don’t worry about making it perfect at first.  Often, you’ll find that the process of writing is a great way of developing and clarifying your thoughts.” Lamott agrees with this tip because she stated that the leads for her first drafts are always too wordy. All of her thoughts for potential leads have flowed out, so it would indeed be lengthy. Freewriting  First drafts are a great way to brainstorm and develop ideas. I want to add that firs drafts do not always have to be in word form. If  it helps you express your thoughts more clearly, charts can be an effective way to jot down ideas. Personally, I rarely ever wrote first drafts, and I realized that I would quickly run out of ideas. If I had written a first draft, free writing would have allowed more general ideas and general thoughts. At times likes these, writers can become vulnerable to writing phrases that are no relevant to what they are writing about. It is of utmost importance to brainstorm and synthesize ideas before finalizing.

In a sense, a first draft actually relieves some of the stress from writing an extremely good paper. Instead of pouring all your efforts to creating a perfect final draft, having a first draft makes it easier. There is no need to write perfect concise sentences, or find the perfect wording to convey your message. You don’t need to muster every ounce of concentration all at once. Instead of writing a super-thoughtful essay from the get go, writing drafts breaks it down into simpler steps.