WRITE POORLY FIRST, THEN WHAT?

Write poorly on purpose? That’s the goal.

Sounds foolish, but not if you do it with enthusiasm.

Do it long enough and something happens.

Let’s ask an expert what happens:

Woodie Guthrie

“It is not all of the time that I feel like talking about songs or poems, because, after all, the most important thing for anybody to do is to just keep on and on, writing, writing, writing.

This will, in time, either correct the style and the message in the poetry, or wear the poet completely out, and cause him or her to put the pen and paper away and forget all about writing poems.”

 

Write, write, write, but make sure it’s bad.

 

 

Then what?

Read, read, read, but make sure you’re reading good stuff.

The New York Public Library gives a reading list for writers with one click.

 

Important Reading

It’s too easy, and a little mean, to say George R.R. Martin placed such a high value on reading because he couldn’t do much else at his age and condition.

He’s an old fat man, but who isn’t?

He’s also a big reader, believes in a reading practice.

If you know who he is because of Game of Thrones, go ahead and do some reading.

Then you’ll know him better.

“But Big D, I’m a visual learner, not a reader.”

That’s fine. So pick up a book and look at it visually. Nice book?

Go ahead and open it to the first page and read a paragraph.

If you feel like stopping, then stop. Otherwise keep reading.

If you stop, do the same thing tomorrow, read a paragraph.

Do it the next day and the day after until you either can’t stop reading, or you finish the book.

 

Great Authors Await You

Do you know people so only read dead authors so they won’t be disappointed by some new book they put out?

Chaucer, Milton, and Shakespeare ought to work.

Is this sparking you up:

 

 

 

How about some Milton:

 

 

Write Poorly In Your Own Words

Look like rain?

Looks like rain to me, too.

 

Sideways rain in a howling wind with drops big enough to leave a bruise, to knife through your umbrella, raincoat, Gortex, and blue tarp.

Rain so hard it jumps a foot off the ground and leaves parking lots looking like an ocean of whitecaps rising higher and higher with no leveling bank or bed to guide it away from your basement windows.

 

Write poorly for your edification, your own education, and keep it to yourself until you’re ready to let it out.

Or blog it up because everyone knows bloggers are famously poor writers who fill post after post with their dedication to write poorly.

Do it like that and you will find one of many rewards:

Who else writes and writes and writes?

Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turnin’ red
You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed
And your mother’s tellin’ stories ’bout you on the tee-ball team
You taught me ’bout your past, thinkin’ your future was me

And you were tossing me the car keys, “Fuck the patriarchy”
Keychain on the ground, we were always skippin’ town
And I was thinkin’ on the drive down, “Any time now
He’s gonna say it’s love,” you never called it what it was
‘Til we were dead and gone and buried

Check the pulse and come back swearin’ it’s the same
After three months in the grave
And then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you
But all I felt was shame and you held my lifeless frame

 

That’s right, Taylor Swift.

She’s a writer on a mission.

The mission? Living a normal life.

And I think she’s on the right path with Travis Kelce.

If I were to cast the role of Tom Buchanan in Great Gatsby, he’d be it.

Except it would be a reversal with Taylor Swift as Gatsby looking over the bay at the green light dreaming about Tom the good guy, not Fitzgerald’s Tom:

 

Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him.

 

Remember to write poorly to improve yourself.

How’s it going?

You’re not beating this post.