Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Writers, Embrace The Power Of Suck

I know writing isn't just about writing. It's about editing. Over and over and over and over. Oh, and one more time after that... 

But this is not a post about polishing that draft to a blinding shine of awesome. This is a post about the pile of crap you call your first draft. This is also a post about taking that crappy first draft and embracing it.

Why? 

Because the power of suck changes lives.

Think about it: do you give your best when things are great? When the odds are in your favor? Is that when you whip out the blood, sweat and tears (and chocolate)? No. 

And if you do, come a little closer to the screen. I'm going to give you a cyber slap in the face.

A friend of mine is going through a tough time right now. Her little brother is sick (leukemia) and she's lost all hope of recovery. The power of suck has taken over, but in a bad way. She's not embracing it in order to let it teach her something, whether about herself or about life. My job is to remind her it's not over yet. It won't be until it is. There's always something good hidden behind the messy bad, and it'll teach us a heck of a lot more than we expect. 

So instead of thinking ahead and saying 'Oh, I need to fix this and that to make it better' or 'Things will only get worse if I don't do something RIGHT THIS SECOND', stop and smell the pile of crap for a while. There's only one Superman and one Wonder Woman. Guess what? It's not you. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Embrace the power of ordinary. Suck out loud with all your might. 

Then hit Delete and start over. 

What do you say? Join me in my suckfest? 

11 comments:

  1. Great post! Did you mention there would be chocolate at this suckfest? Because if so, I'm in :)

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  2. So true! i'm with you in this suckfest-bring on the chocolate!

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  3. It always helps if there's chocolate and wine!

    :-)

    Healing hugs and purrs to your friend and her brother and family!

    take care
    x

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  4. We have to experience the bad to appreciate the good. But it's never fun. Or easy. I'm sorry for your friend, that has got to be the worst.

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  5. Even though it will take all of my strength, I will join you in embracing the suck.

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  6. I'll join you in embracing the suck.
    Fingers crossed for your friends brother btw.

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  7. Yes, this is soo true!! I shall try to embrace the suck with you!

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  8. Embrace the power of ordinary *me loves it*

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  9. I think you're right about embracing the power of the suck, because without it where would we be.

    You're right about how we don't give it our best when things are doing good, but when things are going terrible.

    I'm sorry to hear about your friend's little bother and I wish him and her some good times in the future. I'll pray for his health.

    I wouldn't be the person I am today if I only had successes. I had a ton of failures, but that makes us human, right? I conquer those failures with future success...eventually.

    Awesome thoughts and write on!

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  10. So true. I totally understand the suck.

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