it is ok to make bad art
a new logo, a fun giveaway, and upcoming IRL events!
Hi there! We’ve had a ton of new subscribers since this newsletter was featured in Electric Literature’s 7 Newsletters That Will Improve Your Writing alongside some of my writing and newslettering heroes—Jami Attenberg, Matt Bell, and Nicole Chung, to give an incomplete list. If you found your way here through Samantha Paige Rosen’s great piece, welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
And if you’re not yet subscribed, you can do that for free, right here!
I recently came back from an amazingly wonderful two week residency at the Vermont Studio Center. One of my favorite things about VSC is that it brings together writers and visual artists, and I got so much out of talking to other artists about their work and their process. At VSC, that happens in lots of ways—informally, of course, at meals and while hanging out, and also in slightly more structured ways, through resident presentations and, on the next to last night, at open studios. One of the artists whose work I especially loved (truly, tears in the dining hall while she showed her slides; fortunately, they turn the lights out during resident presentations so I had a minute to get it together and act cool) was Ruth Shafer, who does these amazing fabric sculptures. She shared images from her incredible show, The Weight, which she calls “a soft sculpture show about the body at home.” She said those pieces investigate “where the home ends and the body begins” and posed a question I’ve kept thinking about: “are women furniture?”
Ruth’s studio in the sculpture barn was one of the first ones I entered on open studio night. She had a handmade sign posted on her wall, and when I said, “oh, we should all have one of those,” she offered to give it to me—and now it’s on my bulletin board, right in front of me as I type!
I’ve been thinking about why I love that sentiment so much. It’s liberating, of course—you can make bad art! It won’t hurt anyone! It’s a kind of cousin of a thing Alison Roman said years ago in a Cup of Jo interview (this was pre-Chrissy Teigen, and I think even pre-Stew, when she was just a quirky blond making chocolate chip cookies, if that makes a difference to your Alison Roman feelings): “If you’re afraid to make something bad, you’re never going to do something new.” And that’s really true, right? The fear of bad art holds so many of us back from making anything at all. But here’s why I love Ruth’s sentiment even more: your bad art doesn’t have to be the path to something good. Your bad art doesn’t have to earn its keep by smoothing the way for Good Art. Maybe just making art—good, bad, otherwise—is its own aim.
(On the first or second night, I ended up playing a drawing game with a bunch of artists that was a kind of variation on the exquisite corpse. I very nearly didn’t play—come on, drawing, with artists! But they assured me it would be fine if it was bad, it would be better that way. And I made some truly wretched sketches and felt a little embarrassed (two dachsunds that came out looking like alligators!) and it was fine! Fun, even!).
fancy new graphics + a giveaway!
Write More finally has its own snazzy logo and graphics! Poet, designer, and Friend of the Newsletter Lindsay Lusby designed this logo, and I love it. (If you’re looking for graphics for a book tour or anything else writing-related, I really recommend her! Lindsay also did all the graphics for the Long Devotion events last spring. You can see samples of her work and get in contact on her website.)
To celebrate, I had postcards and stickers made up, and I would love to send some to you! (Yes, you!) If you’d like a nice visual reminder to write more & be less careful, I’d ask you to do two things: 1) post a comment below sharing what you’re working on, a strategy you use if you’re feeling stuck, or a place in your writing life where you could use some help and 2) send me an email (you can just reply to this newsletter) with your address.
(I’ll also have them with me at AWP, so you could come find me and get one then, if you’re coming to Seattle this year!)
speaking of which . . . where to find me in my 3-dimensional form this spring
Houston and Austin, February 24 and 25
Later this week, I’m headed to Texas for two readings and a workshop connected to my anthology, The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood. If you’re in Houston or Austin, I’d love to see you.
AWP 2023: Your Best Book Launch: Publicity for Poets (& Other Small-Press Writers)
And in March, I’ll be at AWP in Seattle. I’m moderating a panel on publicity Saturday afternoon that I’m really excited about, and I’d love to know about your panels/parties/signings, etc!
a quick programming note: Good Creatures!
For the past little bit, I’ve also been quietly and very sporadically writing another newsletter, Good Creatures, and I decided to bring it under the banner of this newsletter as a section. Good Creatures is a space where I share the reading and research and thinking I’m doing around mothering, and I’m hoping it will go out once a month. If you liked the piece I wrote about Kate McCallister, the mom from Home Alone, or my article about the wild origins of our ideas about bonding, I think you’ll love it. But if you don’t want to receive it (no hard feelings!) this article will tell you how to unsubscribe from that section but still get the main Write More content. (And if you’d subscribed to good creatures and are surprised to find yourself here, I moved that list over—you can follow the steps in this article to change your subscription so you just get good creatures content, if that’s what you’d prefer.) The next good creatures, a roundup of great things I’ve read recently about mothering and an argument for running away from home, will go out later this week.
Write More, Be Less Careful is a newsletter about why writing is hard & how to do it anyway. I’d love to hear from you. Reply to this email, comment below, or find me on twitter (@nancy_reddy) and instagram (@nancy.o.reddy).
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I love this reminder! I’m working on my first manuscript, a middle grade detective novel, and the fear of writing badly definitely keeps me from the page, so thanks for this encouragement!
What a great reminder. I'm working on pieces of flash nonfiction and prose poetry that I'd like to make into a collection. When I'm stuck, I despair. Then I do something else, like take a walk or stretch or make a cup of tea or take a nap. Then if I'm still stuck, I read some poetry. If I'm still stuck, I read something I don't understand, like an article on quantum physics or neuroscience. At this point I usually find something to spur me on.