by James Dowd
And because this is all about misbehaving, good writing is feeling like you’re doing something a little bad. The only rules you should follow are your own. Ignore those who say you aren’t a real Writer. Make your own process. Ignore anything I said if you think it’s actually, truly dumb. The only absolute rule of being a Writer is to misbehave, to do things your own way, to be true to yourself and your voice, saying to hell with everyone else and everything around you. This is your aircraft, you are the Writer, no one else. You have a perspective that no one else in the world can offer. So let’s hear it. Be bold, be daring. Let the creatures of the commonplace play it safe, it’s time for you to go misbehave.
Embrace Your Dumb
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I’m not sure about the universe.”
— Albert Einstein
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you didn’t read Voltaire’s “The Good Brahmin” because why would you have? I read it by accident once. It’s not bad, but it sure ain’t a beach read.
In it, our boy Voltaire poses the question of where happiness comes from: ignorance or knowledge? To ask questions — to understand and develop knowledge — is to reveal the flaws in the world, each other, and in ourselves. To ignore — to simply let live and exist — is to be content with our existence. So, where does happiness come from? I don’t care, and this is the wrong book to discuss it. But, what I do care about is which one makes a good Writer. And, the answer is that good writing comes from both — to be both ignorant and knowledgeable. The Heart allows you to be the ignorant old woman, at peace with what is, free to enjoy, express, and experience. The Head allows you to ask deeper questions, reveal meaning, deconstruct, and to be uncomfortable and discontent but forward moving. The good life of a Writer is to be both, to possess all qualities, but to be bound by neither.
However, as Charles Darwin wrote in his book The Descent of Man, "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." While there is a place for both Heart and Head in our work, we cannot allow one to overwhelm the other. We cannot allow Heartfelt, illogical expression to create a sense of overconfident wisdom in our own self. We must always embrace our stupidity while having the knowledge and wisdom to be aware of it.
As David Dunning wrote in an article for Pacific Standard, "In many cases, incompetence does not leave people disoriented, perplexed, or cautious. Instead, the incompetent are often blessed with an inappropriate confidence, buoyed by something that feels to them like knowledge."
Writing dumb is about becoming unaware of the world around you, forgetting that failure is possible, not worrying about critics and opposing ideas. It’s about creating, not critiquing, because your mind can only do one at a time. It’s about admitting to yourself that you are neither perfect nor a genius, and that you will without a doubt make hilariously stupid mistakes, but it doesn’t matter, because none of us are geniuses. But, it’s also being aware that you are doing these things, that though you are ignoring the world in order to free yourself from its judgement, you are still aware that your work is worthy of judgement and not in any way perfect. We cannot allow our intentional ignorance to become our self-confirmed knowledge. We cannot allow ourselves to think we’re better at writing than we really are. We cannot get ahead of ourselves (like writing a book about writing — eesh, what an egomaniac, amirite?!?).
To further explain how we must be aware of our own stupidity, consider the Dunning-Krueger Effect — a type of cognitive bias in which people believe that they are smarter and more capable than they really are. To put it more simply, it’s when people are too dumb to realize that they’re dumb.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect was an administration of tests around humor, grammar, and logic, finding that participants scoring in the bottom quartile grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. In one study, Ivy League undergraduates took a grammar test. Then, after completing the test, the students estimated how their ability to “identify grammatically correct standard English” compared with others. Like the overconfident idiots we experience every day, particularly every single person on the internet, the lowest scoring students of the tests grossly overestimated their abilities. Those who scored at the 10th percentile rated their grammar abilities around the 67th percentile. In essence, their actual grammar ability was really poor, but they thought they were in the top third of students. Idiots. Meanwhile, some of those who tested better embraced their own ability to fail — to be stupid and wrong — and therefore estimated they scored lower than they in-fact did.
In an era of fake news, where our social media networks feed us only what we want to find, we’re all brilliant, informed experts with thoughts and words worth sharing. Dunning-Kruger results in our own difficulties in realizing our own incompetence — how unskilled, uninformed, and unaware we truly are — leading to inflated self-assessments, in whatever format that occurs. In the words of Writer Jason Rose, “Once, we knew little but understood everything. Now, we know everything but understand little.” The only way through the mess is accepting that we are fools and endeavoring to understand more — to write dumb, but strive to write better, which is probably why you’re reading this book. It’s to look at a blank sheet and be ok with the fact this will not be the best, but I will be happy to complete it. It’s only after accepting our dumb, and embracing it, that we are free to discover truth, in the world, each other, and ourselves.
So, accept you are not as smart as you think you are, and allow yourself to just be. Dumb is good, as long as you know you’re dumb.
This rationale acceptance of our own ignorance and inability is also why “non-writers” are often capable of being exceptional Writers. They do not get too caught up in rules and comparisons to greatness, because they either don’t know them or they don’t care to think about them. They only try to express themselves, playing dumb to the fact that the world is watching, and that this is not their craft. They’re aware of neither their own ignorance or brilliance. They merely are. I’ve seen some brilliant copy from designers just looking to fill out a layout. They assumed a Writer would come in with something good, and since they put so little thought and pressure into it, their copy turned out fantastic, maybe even something I could not have written. Excess thought and complication leads to more excess thought and complication. Thought begets thought, which inhibits Heart and creativity.
Because “dumb” often comes with being unaware of your surroundings, unaware of the opinions of others, unaware of complexity, you are, in turn, free — free to experience, free to enjoy, free to be. It allows you to write without insecurity, fear, and anxiety. By being dumb, you can brush off the critics while so many others act and edit before the critics even have a chance to appear. We become so worried of what will be, we never become. To be dumb is to be fearless and mindless. To be a vast, empty canvas, open to any and all ideas. So, be dumb. Trust in yourself and the opportunities in your inabilities. See yourself as brilliantly ignorant, or stupid smart, and never let the blank page be an obstacle. It is an opportunity — an opportunity to express yourself in ways other mediums don’t allow, to create something simple yet powerful.
Ask For the Butter
There’s an old story in the theatre about a young actor breaking in with one hilarious scene. In it, she was paired with a more experienced actor, and together they would eat a meal during one key scene. During it, and with every performance, the young actor would bring a wave of laughs by simply asking for the butter. It was all about timing, and delivery. It was that type of energetic comedy only found in a theater where you can react to a live human performer. However, after many performances, the laughs stopped coming. She would ask for the butter and where once there was an uproar, there was now only silence. Worried, she asks her more experienced counterpart for help:
“Why was I getting laughter one night, but not the next?” she asked.
“You have to ask for the butter,” he resp
onded.
“I did, that’s exactly what I did!”
“No, last night you asked for the butter, but tonight, you asked for the laugh.”
So, why in the hell am I telling you this and what does it have to do with writing dumb? I’ll tell you. You have to be in the moment. You have to write for yourself first, not for the audience. If your words say, “Like me, like me, like me,” you will be utterly unlikeable. You must be aware of the world, yet entirely ignorant of it. Not everyone is going to like what you write, but as long as you’re aware of that inevibility, you can find your confidence to be dumb. It’s easy to forget that focusing on the result instead of focusing on the execution leads, more often than not, to a failure to get the result. So, be dumb, write dumb, ask for the butter, not for the laugh.
Go Get Dumb
You can accept stupidity and try your hardest to rise above it despite the odds, or you can embrace it and use it as a tool to succeed. Embrace all that is dumb. See it not as negative or lacking, but as something true and natural. See it as a way of thinking, being, and writing, not as an enemy.
Patience with yourself and controlled ignorance is the only way to survive in this world of idiots, so fall in love with that dumb, primate brain deep down in you that wants nothing but to thrive and find its tribe. Your writing is merely the mindless pursuit of survival, whether professionally or personally, whether you like it or not. It’s the very innate drive that inspires communication and community — the very essence of human evolution, so start evolving as a Writer and human being. Use these tips, or abandon them entirely, it does not matter, as long as you write.
Writing Challenge
“Let us do these things not to satisfy the ‘rules’ or to gratify the whims of the pedagogue, but rather to express ourselves clearly, precisely, logically, and directly — and to cultivate the habits of mind that produce that kind of expression.”
— Theodore Bernstein
Let me tell you, being a Writer is weird. Not only for the act of it, but the idea of it. It’s a weird hobby and an even weirder way to make a living. We put words together and people pay us for it. (Weird) But, there’s just something about it — something fascinating, something alluring, something that makes people want to be able to say that they are a Writer.
In fact, people love talking about the craft (and some idiots even write dumb books about it). Yet, all too often I hear from people who are Writers, but not really. They want to be one, but they don’t actually write. They love it, but they don’t love doing it. They know they can do it, but they simply don’t. (Yeah, this world is the weirdest) For them, though a passion, writing has somehow become an unexplored creative outlet, something they’ve always wanted to do but will always do later, and therefore it’s never done. But, the great truth, the secret to being a Writer, is that it’s not hard. You don’t have to be smart, as this book proves. Anyone can do it. But, a real Writer can’t not do it. Writers write, and a lot of other people just talk about it. So, if you want to be a Writer, know that no one will give it to you. You have to write.
So, it’s time to become a Writer (or, at least, a better one):
Ready for a challenge? It comes with these short, daily writing exercises (1 hour a day for 7 days). Overall, your challenge is not to write anything for anyone else’s review. Your challenge is to write something that no one else ever could — to demonstrate that unique voice and perspective inside you that has been screaming to get out and play; something so…unapologetically you that you can feel proud enough to share with the world regardless of the fact that this is for no one else but you.
You say you want to write because you hear it, you feel it, so now let everyone else hear it and feel it for themselves.
Challenge Day 1:
Articulate Yourself — Of all the writing I do as a Writer, Brand Articulations are the most fun. They’re collections of writing that represent, inspire, and transform the brands and businesses I consult with. In a single document, I dictate all marketing efforts moving forward while representing the essence of the brand, its story, and its voice. It’s an accumulation of business, strategy, and pure creativity. It’s both an unbelievable thrill and an absolute challenge to write them, and every example I’ve ever seen online is pure crap. The only way to do it is to write with pure Heart, and then ground it by using your Head. It’s to humanize a business — something potentially cold and corporate — because no one wants to interact with a business; they want to interact with a human. So, Heart is absolutely required to find the person inside this corporate entity.
So much of writing comes down to confidence — confidence in yourself, confidence to fail, confidence in putting yourself out there for the world to shit on. Confidence comes from knowing and accepting who you are as a Writer. That means you have to craft your story — both the good and the bad. You must deconstruct yourself and elevate the greatness.
That’s why you’re not only going to develop your skills, you’re going to develop your brand as a Writer by writing an articulation FOR YOURSELF! This is your starting point. This is you.
What is your archetype, your voice, your positioning, your story, your mission, your vision, your values, your manifesto? Pretend you’re a brand. How do you articulate yourself for the world to not only understand you but connect with you? What stories can only you tell? What makes you unique?
Pro Tip: On any articulation, I find a piece of writing that speaks to the Soul of the brand — that One Thing we talked about earlier — and let it inspire all of the writing after. It’s writing that shows the energy of the brand — that brings it to life!
Deliverable: An articulation, as deep and developed as you can get it, in a single Google doc filled with your favorite writing — your Dump!
Challenge Day 2:
Find Your Voice — It’s not as hard as it might sound. Sure, a Writer’s voice usually comes with time ; not because it isn’t there, but because they don’t know how to find it.
But, you’re here because you hear it in you, so now it’s up to you to confidently and audaciously dig deep and bring it out.
My suggestion: simply look for the writing that absolutely inspires you, and collect it in a single doc. It can be poetry, song lyrics, movie quotes, speeches, whatever. But, when you collect it all, you can start looking for patterns. You can start seeing the things that get your heart beating faster. You can start applying what you’ve learned to your own writing. That collection — those patterns — they will make up your voice. That is where your energy lives.
Pro Tip: Don’t copy & paste it. Actually transcribe it. Write it word for word, line by line. You will understand it better. You will be dissecting it without even realizing it. You will learn from it. Do this with everything! I have recorded people in my time who sounded incredibly brilliant out loud only to find out that, when transcribed, what they were saying, though convincing, was actually contradictory and meaningless. The action of writing words down, by hand or by typing, slows things down and unlocks a part of your brain that is more critical to meaning. As you develop that part of your brain, you will be a much stronger Writer.
Deliverable: A long collection of words and ideas from other people, all typed out by you, all captured in…you guessed it…that same Google doc — your Dump.
Challenge Day 3:
Be Observant — A major part of writing is observing the world, people in it, and the things they create, and then gleaning insights from it. That’s why I want you to take your headphones out, take a walk or observe the world. Consume someone, something, anything, and find an ah-ha Moment — that unexpected realization or discovery of something new or notable that inspires great thought and discussion.
Then, put that Moment in writing and make the reader feel the same power you felt when you realized it. Make sure it’s just one thing. And choose what you want to do with that one thing. Maybe it’s to inspire people, and maybe it�
�s to inspire yourself.
Take your one thing and dump about it. Everything, anything. Pull from the people above — the writing that moves you. Whatever you do, do not try to structure or edit your work yet. Just let it flow with Blood.
Pro Tip: Do this on paper or screen, not in your head. Talk about things as if you are writing to a friend, but keep in mind that no one has to read your Braindump. Always remember that the simple act of vomiting thoughts onto the page will create a stream of consciousness that is truly your writing voice. As previously discussed, some Writers, like myself, consider it a little person who sits in your brain somewhere and does that actual writing for you. I can’t see any scientific reason for that not being absolutely true, so look for them, ask for them, and when you find them, name them, get to know them, let them drive.
Deliverable: A description in the same Google doc of your ah-ha revelation, however long you want or need it to be. Put it all in there. Don’t get it right, get it written. Draft now, craft later!
Challenge Day 4:
Rewrite Something Great — Grab one of those pieces of writing from Day 2 that moves you, and that applies to the one thing you’re writing. Consider how perfect it would have been if you wrote this instead of them, and then, knowing that the world will never see this, make whatever changes you want to improve it. Literally change it. Sure, it’s great, but it’s not perfect, and it’s not in your voice, yet.