RDP Saturday: CLINK

photographer/subject unknown

When I was in high school I took a creative writing class and it was wonderful.

It was great for you if you wanted to write and it was great for students and who wanted an easy credit.  So along with a few aspiring writers, there were also a few athletes and  pep club types and stoners- most of them looking for a class to sleep through.

In that mix there were a few students who really did want to to learn  about writing and the process.

Our teacher did realize his class was a dumping ground for students just looking for ‘an easy credit’, so he had this this grading system. If you showed up, kept awake  and after he read the writing assignments,  if you offered a word or two to prove you were sort o paying attention, you got a ” C ”

I was terrified of getting a ” C ” because in the real world that ” C ” was a half step above a Failing grade. That ” C ” meant you were being thrown into the clink- as in the notorious ” Clink ” in London.

Clink Museum- London
Photographer Unknown

There was another thing that would earn you a trip to the clink- even if you were a writer.

Every morning our Teacher put a word on the blackboard and circled it.

That was our ‘prompt’ and you had until the end of class to write about it.

He didn’t tell you how to use it so you didn’t get to write things like ” not feeling it” or ” hard pass, I don’t like this word”

If you were going to be a writer, then  get to writing and if you want to be a creative writer then this shouldn’t be hard.

Well it was hard- but no WAY was I going to get sent to the Clink over one word- and do you know what this little exercise taught me?

To not be afraid to write.

Clink.