Today like many other days, I felt like I had nothing to write about. I stared at the screen for a good hour, took a nap, woke up, and continued staring at the screen a bit more. I’ve developed a newfound respect for writer’s block in the past few weeks. I have also begun to appreciate Ali Abdaal’s advice even more and I hope I can also change the way you write. Just like my writing was transformed by Ali’s advice (yes we are close enough to be on a first-name basis).
Ali is a doctor, YouTuber, blogger, programmer, entrepreneur, and more. Whilst consuming his content I came across one of his blog posts entitled, “The acronym that changed how I write.” The acronym is FBR, which stands for Fast, Bad, and Wrong (do not ask me about the R and wrong, I’m just as confused as you).
It simply means that, when you write, you should write fast, bad, and wrong. Write with terrible style, terrible word choice, terrible grammar, and wrong facts. This will liberate you and keep you focused on the most important task, writing. We sometimes get too bogged down with the idea of perfection forgetting that all we need to do is write.
Perfection is one of the biggest enemies of creativity. Creativity is the art of collection, linking, and editing but perfection aims to destroy this idea. FBR helps combat our perfectionist tendencies. Allowing us to be as weird as we want to be. True authentic and creative work comes from the weirdness within. Just write, and you will get the chance to return to your work to eliminate and correct that which is unpleasant. You will be surprised when you read your first draft with a fresh pair of eyes. You will find that your piece isn’t that terrible.
Writing fast, bad, and wrong can change the way you write forever. Giving you power over the dreaded writer’s block. It is a weapon that can be used in any creative endeavor and should give you the power to release your weirdest work.
