Behind the (Writing) Scenes with…
Marcia Zina Mager, Honolulu Branch
The Power of Writing Badly
One of my favorite quotes about the creative process comes from one of the world’s greatest painters, Vincent van Gogh.
“Mediocre I do not despise at all. And one does not rise above that mark by despising what is mediocre. In my opinion, one must begin by at least having some respect for the mediocre and know that it already means something and that it is only reached through great difficulty.
Whether you’ve written for decades or are just beginning, van Gogh’s wisdom can take you far in your creative life. To be able to write badly; to be able to give yourself the permission to spit out words, sentences, and ideas that fall short of your expectations is an ability that ultimately nourishes your creative spirit.
The process of finding the perfect words, expressing that great idea, sculpting that magnificent paragraph is just that — a process. The bottom line is that we must be willing to initially (and maybe for a while!) write badly. We must be willing to put down on paper the crappy stuff. But even more importantly, as van Gogh urges, we must be willing to honor our own tender, imperfect efforts.
Writing a first draft is never about what your audience (or your mother) thinks. Writing a first draft takes enormous courage because it’s about picking up the paints and tossing them wildly onto the canvas to see what colors stick; it’s about breaking rules, not following them.
Did Michelangelo start chiseling away at the marble in search of David, only to throw his hands up and lament: “This crappy lump doesn’t look anything like a man’s hand! I suck as a sculptor!” No, he worked tirelessly, draft after draft, willing to form “bad” lumps in that impossible stone until one day something glorious emerged.
So it is with all creative processes. We must be willing to trudge through the slush of our terrible ideas, our clumsy words, and awkward transitions. We must be willing to follow that goofy impulse down that dead end, explore that crazy idea no matter where it leads. We must be willing to give ourselves the spaciousness to write badly so we can discover what we’re looking for, even when we have no idea what that might be.
If we’re brave enough to honor our own mediocre attempts, here’s what van Gogh promises:
“Your work is unbeautiful, alright, let it be unbeautiful. It will grieve you, but it must not discourage you. It is the experience and hard work of every day which alone will ripen in the long run and allow one to do something truer and more complete. You will not always do well, but the days you least expect it, you will do that which holds its own with the work of those that have gone before.”
Marcia Zina Mager is an international author, book coach, and performer. Her 40-plus years of publishing credits include novels, nonfiction books, articles, essays, awardwinning poetry, and plays.
Learn more about her wildly creative life at marciazinamager.com.