Sometimes it’s good to suck at writing

Because then you also know when you’re doing your best work. Without the dud sentences, without the stilted descriptions and turgid dialogue, you wouldn’t know when you’re flying.

Sometimes I set out to write the worst possible prose I can, just to see what it’s like. (Mostly it’s awful. Sometimes it’s funny. Usually I lock or delete or password protect those files so that if something befalls me, no-one can access them)

Getting out the crap is also good for your better writing. You get to use all of those awfully long and clever but oh-so-pretentious words that have been queuing up to get onto the page. You get to write that romantic scene that’s been giving you nightmares that it may see the light of day sometime and become a viral example of a ‘how not to’ write a romance scene. You can lumber through the paragraphs like the Yeti’s literary cousin, not giving a fig if people laugh.

Most of all: you get to play. (This is the most important bit)

Your brain gets a break from the pressure of having to produce ‘good’ writing, and who knows? After a while you may begin to produce writing you’re proud of.

Have you ever written your worst on purpose?