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Welcome to Day 12 of the Write the Story! writing challenge! Today we're talking about embracing bad writing. Are you ready?
If you are a writer who has struggled with perfectionism and the desire to create the perfect first draft (and, really, who doesn't think they will be the one writer who doesn't have to do multiple revisions?), this post is definitely for you.
Okay, it's for anyone on a writing path. Because in my opinion---any writing is good writing and the only bad writing is what you were too afraid to put on the page. I say the only bad writing is what never gets written because along with many other writers, I believe all writing can be revised, rewritten, polished. It is in the revising that our writing becomes good writing.
That's why I love this quote from William Faulkner, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1949:
Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.
Does it sound too simple?
Perhaps. But that doesn't mean it's easy. It's difficult to embrace bad writing. But it is the only path to creating something worthwhile.
And who am I to question such a prolific writer as William Faulkner? He stands in good company, doesn't he? We've all heard the popular quotes about the first draft of anything being, well, not good, and that the only good writing is rewriting.
There are many popular and classic writers who likewise have encouraged fellow writers to write without measuring the worth of every word. To get the words down and get the first rough draft done.
So today, if you are wrestling with yourself trying to craft the perfect sentence or to find that just-right word, I hope you'll take these words to heart and let your writing be...bad. Because it's really not bad, it is simply a diamond in the rough waiting for you to polish it on the next go-round.
Let those words flow and get them down, friends!
Remember: drop your daily word count in the comments so we can track your daily word count and provide you a final total when we hit November 30.
