18. No before yes: How to learn from writing you hate

As a rule of thumb on this podcast, I try to keep things generally positive, since most of us have enough negativity in our creative lives. This month, though, I’m inviting you to take a little trip with me to the realm of evaluation, judgment, and yes, even snark.

But let’s be clear: I don’t mean snark directed against yourself. I’m talking about letting yourself just really, really hate something you’ve read that somebody else wrote. And here’s why:

Sometimes, it’s easier to learn from work we don’t like than from work we do like. Sometimes we need to indulge in a really deep “no” to get to an even deeper “yes.”

Let’s go deep into how to distill wisdom from snark – without being too much of an asshole.

Writing praxis tip

In the episode, I mention two types of “no” response that can be especially fruitful to unpack through some reflective questions: the “guilty pleasure” response, and the “existential loathing” response.

Here are some prompts to help you dig into each of these more quickly and directly when they come up, so you can uncover that illuminating deep “yes” inside the deep “no.”