I understand first drafts do not have to be well-written and could have as many mistakes as there can be, however, I tend to not follow that rule and always try my best in my rough draft. My writing process is quite long and difficult. Anne Lamott mentions how she would “XX” her paragraphs, which is something that I do often. If I do not like a paragraph I will cross the whole thing out and write a brand new one. This is something I would do in high school if the assignment was not too big, my writing process for bigger assignments took a long time because I would write different versions of the first paragraph. The reason I would do this was because I would later choose the best version of the paragraph and go on from that one.
Like Lamott, before starting my first draft, I enter a period of panic mode in which my mind goes blank and I do not know what to write about at all. Shortly after this, I begin to stress out in which case I do not feel like starting my writing assignment. Eventually, I get everything together and begin to write. In the past after I finished my first draft, I would not read it again until my teacher gave it back with the corrections I needed. After I got my rough draft back, I would only make the corrections my teachers gave me and THEN I re-read my paper and that is when I would make the corrections I felt necessary.
I must say that I do disagree with Lamott in the sense that people do read your first drafts, not a large audience, but someone does read that draft and they may criticize you for your “horrible” writing. I also believe that it is important for someone to read the first drafts because the only way to become a better writer is if you have someone telling you what to write and what to leave out.