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DARE TO SUCK

2010-02-05 · Q&A · Maureen Johnson · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: guest or collab, community lore

Filling in for John the morning after turning in a draft, Maureen Johnson answers a viewer afraid of sucking at writing: dare to suck, since sucking is how you learn, costs nothing in writing, and is part of the professional process too: writing is rewriting, from suck to awesome.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Friday: draft turned in at 1 a.m.; the post-deadline daze

  • ★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen says she turned in her draft at 1 a.m. last night and is free-ish today, though dazed, as if hit on the head with a plank. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:27 — Viewer fear of sucking; 'dare to suck' against decreasing world suck; you will suck while learning; the violin and Carnegie Hall

  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: Asked by a viewer afraid of sucking at writing, Maureen tells nerdfighters, who want to decrease world suck, that they should instead dare to suck. (playful) — 00:00:27 · world suck, Nerdfighteria

    “you should dare to suck.”

  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen says beginners will suck a lot and for a while, and feeling it is a sign they are on the right path, because learning anything means sucking at it. — 00:00:59

  • ★★ Maureen Johnson: Like someone who buys a violin, a beginner must practise for years (she says 8 to 10) before playing Carnegie Hall: you have to suck first. (playful) — 00:00:59

00:01:28 — Roundabouts in England vs writing, where sucking has no serious consequences; don't publish at 16–18, you haven't sucked enough

  • ★★ Maureen Johnson: Some things, like crossing roundabouts in England, have serious consequences if you suck at them, but in writing sucking has no real serious consequences. — 00:01:28 · England
  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen tells aspiring writers not to worry that their first work isn't good or a masterpiece; writing without publishing right away lets you write lots that sucks. — 00:01:57
  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: To 16- to 18-year-olds who ask how to publish their books, she says don't, stop, because they haven't sucked enough yet. — 00:01:57

00:02:26 — Sucking is part of the professional process: first drafts exist to suck; writing is rewriting, from suck to awesome

  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen says sucking is part of the professional process as well: first drafts, like the one she just turned in, exist to suck and get changed and ripped apart. — 00:02:26
  • ★ Maureen Johnson: She says writers she knows laugh together about how bad their drafts are. (playful) — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen calls the phrase 'writing is rewriting' 100% true: you rewrite many times, and the work goes from suck to awesome. — 00:02:56 · writing is rewriting

00:03:25 — 'I give myself permission to suck'; John gives Henry another week, Maureen fills in on Wednesday; sign-off

  • ★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen has viewers say aloud with her: 'I give myself permission to suck.' — 00:03:25

    “I give myself permission to suck.”

  • ★★★ Maureen Johnson: Maureen says John is taking one more week of paternity leave with baby Henry (joking he will then make Henry get a job), so she fills in on Wednesday before John returns. (playful) — 00:03:25 · John Green, Henry Green

Humor (significant)

  • Nobody buys a violin and plays it for friends that day; you practise for years first. — 00:00:59

    “and then you would be like, Hey, I'm playing at Carnegie Hall. Look at me go.”

  • Some things you really aren't supposed to suck at. — 00:01:28

    “I really suck at crossing the street at roundabouts in England.”

  • Voicing the young writer who insists they already suck enough, she stumbles into an innuendo. — 00:02:26

    “I haven't sucked long and hard enough, and I... did I just actually say that?”

  • An administrative note on John's paternity leave with his newborn son. — 00:03:25

    “he is going to give Henry another week before he makes him go out and get a job”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Carnegie Hall · England · Henry Green · world suck · writing is rewriting

Taking part: Maureen Johnson

Only in the description or credits: Scarlett Fever

Replies to

  • answers · Writing as a profession (original, 2010, not in this wiki) — “a lot of you had questions about writing and you left them in the comments”

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