Writing Worsely, I Mean Badly (According to Bruce)

Bruce, here, is Bruce Ballenger. He wrote an article entitled The Importance of Writing Badly, one of the guiding forces when I taught Creative Writing and, more importantly, when I sit down now to write. If you’re willing to suspend your self-criticism and accept that you very well may write poorly, good things happen. Or, as Ballenger writes,

“Giving myself permission to write badly makes it much more likely that I will write what I don’t expect to write, and that from those surprises will come some of my best writing. Writing badly is also a convenient alternative to staring off into space waiting for inspiration.“

Brilliant in its simplicity, the idea is simply to write. Poetry, fiction, biographical, or just what happened when you went to the donut joint and the scruffy teen sold you inferior chocolate Long Johns (although even an inferior donut is superior to well-cooked Brussels sprouts).

Too often we don’t write because we fail to measure up to some invisible (and often impossible) standard. Let’s agree up front. You’re not J.K. Rowling or Shakespeare. Me neither. Yet, here you are, writing something I created (with Bruce’s help). The point is to write.

And if your writing never sees the light of day or if only you enjoy it as a remembrance of your favorite donut place that was destroyed and replaced by another Mattress Firm? So what? Your words revived a memory and brought a smile to your face. Chances are, someone, maybe one of your kids, will read your musings and say, “I remember Plucky’s Donuts. Great maple bars. I wonder what happened to that red-headed Smurf who worked there.”

There can be great joy in writing badly. Take it from one who knows.