“The Bad Writing Exercise”
Wednesday, June 10th , 2020
SIN Says complete the bad writing exercise. The goal here is not to write something good. I want you to write something bad. Mostly I just want you to write.
This exercise was created for writers, but it can also be used by anyone that is afraid of taking a step towards achieving their goal, whether it’s personal or professional.
When was the last time you wrote? If you’re not a writer, when was the last time you spent time working towards achieving your goal? If it’s been days, weeks, months or years…Why? (Not the, I was busy why, but the deeper why—the why that you usually avoid.)
I completed the first draft of my screenplay in 2012 and revised my screenplay intermittently until 2018. I knew before I completed the first draft of my screenplay that I wanted to be a writer. I also knew that in order to be considered a writer that I would need to write more consistently and that I would need to write another screenplay. However, it took me 7 years before I started writing consistently and dedicating my time to perfecting my screenplay and starting another screenplay. I was afraid that my present and future scripts would be poorly written. I finally took a class to push myself to start another screenplay. While I was in class the instructor shared this writing exercise; the writing exercise that I’m sharing with you.
Many writers including myself procrastinate or don’t write at all out of fear,
“It’ll be bad, cliché, stereotypical, offensive, redundant, banal, people won’t understand, they’ll hate it, people will talk about me, it will be a failure—I’ll be a failure.”
SIN Says write down the reasons you’ve procrastinated, or failed to write for a significant period of time. Then I want you to aim to write the most offensive, redundant (insert your reasons) piece of literature that people won’t understand.
Write for 7 minutes.
If you’re not a writer, write down your goal, write down the reasons why you haven’t worked towards achieving your goal, write down the steps you can take to achieve your goal–AN ACTION PLAN. Then take one step towards achieving your goal and facing your fear.