by James Dowd
Find the holes. Find where it lacks rhythm. Find where you can infuse pieces of yourself into it. Make it your own. Make it better. Keep this in your Dump. It ties back to your one thing, and now it’s rewritten. It’s not their writing anymore, it’s yours. Let it be an inspiration to keep writing. Remember that you do not have to write everything originally. Great writing is theft because every Writer, like every artist, takes inspiration from the world around them. You do not, and can not, literally plagiarism them, but you can take the Heart, Blood, and music of their writing and let it play you through your work.
Pro Tip: If you’re worried about accidentally plagiarising these works, use color coding to differentiate, and then don’t just rewrite or expand on the other Writer’s work, write about it. Write how it makes you feel. Write about the use of language, and rhythm, stand out to you. By writing about it, you are more likely to write like it, gently mimicking it.
Deliverable: A single piece of writing rewritten in the same Dump. It started with something you love, but you have now made it your own by finding its weak points, and by letting its magic breathe inspiration into you.
Challenge Day 5:
Give it Structure — Take your Dump as it sits and begin to infuse some Head into it. At this point, it’s likely a confusing mess, so start editing it into what you want it to be. Is it a song, a blog, a poem, a movie, a novel? Use a structure and build from there.
Pro Tip: Any writing can be anything, with the right structure. Whatever format you want it to be in, simple Google common shapes, structures, outlines, and formats, and plug & play into it, using your words from the Dump. Some written elements, like poems and songs, are about editing your words and thoughts down, where as other written elements, like novels and screenplays, are about expanding your thoughts to help complete the story.
Deliverable: An Edit doc to go with your Dump, in which you start to see your outline take shape.
Challenge Day 6:
Share Your Writing — I respect the Writers on Medium, even the bad ones, because they at least put themselves out there for little gain. Too often, people see the sharing of work as scary. The truth about blog content is: it’s not very regulated. It’s not that sacred. It’s not that scary. No one is really judging you. There is no great barrier to entry and your reader will likely forget about you within seconds. So, if you have something to say, just say it. Post whatever it is you’ve been working on, even only a work in progress as an article on Medium — where people can see it — and don’t get caught up on what they will think. Don’t think, don’t worry, just write — and share.
It can be about ANYTHING. Just write, dammit!
Pro Tip: Some people like to slave over long-form pieces, such as articles, worrying, overthinking, and overediting. The truth behind almost every single one of the articles I’ve ever written — whether for myself or someone else — is I did too. I overthink it all, despite everything I’ve offered in this book. I worry about how it will exist online and what people will think of me. I worry about mistakes constantly. I worry if something is too long, or too short. I worry about looking like an idiot. But, the difference is that I then I get so frustrated with myself for taking so long and being overly critical that I just write something quickly and post it before I can stop myself. I accept that it will never be perfect, and I post. I even post it, see how people respond, and then pull it down to edit later. No one seems to notice or care, and I feel better fixing things later. So, do the same thing. Don’t overthink it. Just write and edit what you want to say for one single focused hour and run toward the fear. It’s not as scary as you think it is. In fact, you’ll probably find that there was nothing to be afraid of in the first place.
Deliverable: A short article or post (which can be anything — poem, play, battle rap, whatever), even if only a draft, in that famous Google doc, and then also post that damn thing on Medium. Don’t you dare sit on it. Sharing your work will allow you to capitalize that W to become a true Writer. Writers write, but more importantly, they share it out to the world.
Challenge Day 7:
Fight for Your Words — Not long ago, I asked two Writers on my team when they first felt that they were truly a Writer and also comfortable saying so out loud. Both said that it was after debating with me — fighting for what they wrote. It wasn’t writing something great. It was fighting for it, believing in their craft so much that they would stand toe-to-toe with me and say they were right and I was wrong.
That’s why you’re going to let someone not just read but critique something you wrote for yourself. When you’re ready, you will have done everything with purpose. That will mean you can defend it. Tell that person to critique it heavily — to hold nothing back. You will determine where to fight and where to learn.
Pro Tip: Believe in your work or no one else will.
Deliverable: Share your Google doc or anything you believe in and wrote with Blood with someone who will challenge you. In fact, find someone so unlike you that you’re absolutely sure they’ll hate it. Get ready to go toe-to-toe with them. Writing is a contact sport and you only get better by sharing and accepting criticism. You don’t have to take it, but you should find out how people are receiving it .
That’s it. One week, seven hours, and you’re a Writer.
Do you accept the challenge to start writing dumb?
About the Author
From proudly winning a poetry award at the age of six to never again winning an award he was proud of (insecurity, not ego), James Dowd is a sometimes-award-winning Writer and Creative Director with nearly two decades of experience spanning TV production and advertising.
In recent years, going from many quickly-cancelled TV shows at MTV to the adworld of Madison Avenue, James spends most of his time (an uncomfortable amount) writing and creating for brands such as Kellogg's, Mercedes, Anheuser-Busch, Mars, Sealy, Sperry, Capital One, Diageo, Wells Fargo, Ford, (Is anyone still reading these?), Kraft, and the NHL.
Outside of all that, he spends his time zoning out on hiking trails, neglecting normal adult responsibilities, and hanging out with his mutts, Lucy & The Jeb.
If you’d like more of his annoying ramblings, or would like to book James for a speaking engagement or Writer’s Workshop, you can find him at WriteDumb.com.