Ben's Sucky Words

Tomorrow, I ’ll mail to the University of Southern Maine my thesis for my Master of Fine Arts in creative writing degree. Seeing it packaged and ready to go got me thinking about a gift from my first-semester advisor,Suzanne Strempek Shea. She gave me this little notebook to keep with me so my ability to write something is never far from my impulse to.I labeled my pocket-sized notebook Ben Rubenstein ’s Sucky Words to remind me that I have the freedom to write without judgement or consequence. In fact, I must always accept that any of my written work up until its final form sucks. Without that acceptance, I’d freeze, second-guess every word, and end up writing nothing. To be a writer is to b e the opposite of a competitor. Whereas I imagine Tom Brady at night just grinding his teeth in fury as he stares at the ceiling above him and his wife Gisele at a poster of the 198 other players drafted before him, I give no f.s about how my writing compares to anyone else’s. In fact, rather th an try to “beat” other writers, I’ll learn from them.No, this past semester I was up at night staring at my ceiling thinking of which sucky words I ’d add to my thesis. This project, which is the basis for my first novel,consumed me. It felt important, even if it mattered to nobody but me and even if almost every word sucked. I think it felt important to me because, underneath the fictional short stories that composed the thesis, there was a little bit of my truth.Below is a sectio...
Source: cancerslayerblog - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: MFA writing/speaking Source Type: blogs