Writing Badly Is Good

How to welcome the bad (and not get mad at it)..

“Much more frequently, I feel like I’m groping my way forward line to line. Writing badly is also hard—you need to give yourself permission to write badly, just to get something down.” -Karen Russell

“Every first draft is perfect, all it needs to do is exist.” -Jane Smiley

Going back to old drafts of stories is like panning for gold. My process is messy and involves being tolerant and accepting of my brain’s need to grope in the dark. I have files and files of murky, formless early drafts of stories that have no idea what they’re trying to say, or where the light in the story resides. And yet it’s this very stuff, this ‘bad writing’ (it really is!) that has eventually turned into some of my strongest pieces over the years.

I really do like to think of it as panning for gold. The trick is to go back to those messy freewrites and hunt for one sentence or image that glitters up at you. With that shiny nugget in your hand, you’re almost there.

Please feel free to discuss.

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