I read last night that “everything is just a remix”. I’m not sure I buy it (I mean I probably do, I’m just as consumeristic as the next guy), but if that is true, it basically means that all of the great and truly original works of art in the world that will ever exist have already been created. All the originality has been used up, there are no more ideas to be had, and we are left here, making dub-step versions of ideas that don’t belong to us but still claim to be artists because of it. Sure, they have a point, I am not denying that this happens, but I refuse to believe we are stranded in the desert of art and there is no original creative oasis out there anywhere. The optimist inside of me is saying they are wrong, there are so many things left to say, to make, to do, and all we have to do is persist and persevere, but the real me is thinking that persistence is probably useless is most situations.

Are you a good writer? (something all writers, and humans in general, probably ask themselves at one point or another.)  Because language is the most basic form of expression, this applies to everyone, and if everything really is just a remix, we better be fucking talented DJs. I have some basic principles to aid in the determination of this topic of good and bad writing.

Are you old?  (like I’m talking 65+, basic senior citizen age. If you are, don’t get all mad I said you were old, what follows is probably a compliment and honestly, it is about time you accepted the fact that you are, now, considered to be an old person). Old people have the ability to recognize a fantastic story almost immediately, probably do to all that life experience. They know whats worth holding onto and whats worth letting go. They have lived so long and so much that they have experienced what is truly interesting and whats not.

My grandmother had this remarkable story that she would tell about these metal scissors she “accidentally” stole from elementary school. According to the story, she didn’t realize that she had brought them home with her, and when she found them in her bag, she was overcome with such panic and shame, that she ran outside and buried them in the back yard where no one would ever find them. She used to tell it with such conviction, that you could feel her panic when she found those metal scissors (even though I think she was probably a badass and stole them on purpose because she probably wanted some badass metal scissors to cut some badass stuff with). This story has it all, crime, panic, repentance, I mean, there was a lot more to the story, and the way she told it was the absolute greatest (this is probably a really poor remix of that story and I apologize), but you got the gist of it. She buried her transgression with the scissors and no one would have ever been the wiser, except for the fact that she knew it was an awesome story and so she told us all about it (she said the scissors are probably still there in her childhood back yard to this day). Most people would have forgotten that story in their own life, but my overly intelligent grandmother knew that it was relatable, it was a bit embarrassing, and it spoke to her humanity. Old people just get that stuff. Humility is something that always helps content and it probably takes a long time to master, so if you are old, good news, you are probably already partly a good writer!

Are you willing to be honest with yourself and with others? I have always had a really hard time accepting rewrites of my work when those rewriting it try to change the actual copy. The copy is sacred. The words I wrote down, I chose and if I want to change them, only I have the power to make that decision (do your freaking job and correct my grammar and spelling and tell me how good it is and then shut up, am I right? I’m probably right). I have always felt that someone else changing my words would be equivalent to me going up to someones painting and adding a random waterfall. Whats the problem? Everyone likes waterfalls right? Sometimes the mist that surrounds them also creates a rainbow, maybe I should add a rainbow too… and it goes on and on until that painting belongs to me and no longer to the painter. Don’t edit me out of my own stories. Don’t get me wrong. Accepting and understanding criticism on all levels of ones life is an important process in order to grow and become the best version of yourself, but accepting it does not mean you have to agree with it. Sometimes you have to fight it and stay true to the stubborn asshole that you are (I will NEVER change for you!) That is why it is as important to be honest with yourself as it is to be honest with others.

Thats really all I’ve got. The two most important qualities of good writers: old and honest, but I hope you have realized by now that weather you are a good writer or not, it probably doesn’t matter even the tiniest bit. If everything is a remix, and everything important has already been said and done, we not only need to be good writers, but also good actors and good thieves. We need to band together and march through a world where we have convinced ourselves and each other that there is still something worth saying. Something left to say that doesn’t and never has belonged to anyone but us. And it could all very well be a complete lie, but that doesn’t matter either, because even that lie can be remixed endlessly… probably.