In this today’s episode, Angie and Elizabeth chat about Bad Writing and how sometimes purposefully writing “badly” can show you how much you know (or don’t) about writing. We often have a mystical approach to creativity, and if we lower our expectations some we won’t succumb to perfectionism. Angie accepts Elizabeth’s challenge to sit down and write “badly” in the upcoming week, in order to see whether or not the wording of the challenge will build an identity of a bad writer or provide a measure of freedom. And they both agree that art isn’t about good or bad, it’s about creating. So tell that little voice in your head that offers nothing but criticism to take a breather and just write.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Love Simon

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott

Jody Picoult

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Why People Like Us Do This chat with Seth Godins

“I should hate forever to be a burden to you” Lessons in Love from Virginia Woolfe and Vita Sackville-West by Jeanna Kadlec

The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi Laskar

Crave by Christine O’Brien

Story Makers is a podcast that features in-depth conversations with accomplished writers, filmmakers and industry experts about story craft, technique, habit and survival--everything you need to know to stay inspired, connect to your creativity, find others’ wonderful stories and your own success.

The hosts:

Elizabeth Stark is a published, agented novelist and distributed filmmaker who teaches and mentors writers at BookWritingWorld.com.

Angie Powers is a distributed filmmaker and published short story writer with an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA who teaches story structure at BookWritingWorld.com.