Welcome to all the people who’ve recently subscribed! Thank you for being here. Please know that there’s a special offer coming your way soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this week’s newsletter.
By Zee, Two Marshmallows
If you haven’t seen Bob’s Burgers, Tina is the oldest child of the Belcher family. She’s fourteen and she writes. A lot. She’s so dedicated that she gets up an hour early every day to write. She’s often the star of her stories, which tend to feature zombies, horses and how she has lots of boyfriends. Her family don’t fully understand the things she writes, but they encourage her creativity.
In one episode, Tina shares her writing with a fellow student she considers a friend. The student mocks her work and tells her not to show other people because they’ll think she’s a freak. But then, the so-called friend steals one of Tina’s stories, threatening to share it with the entire school unless Tina does everything she says.
It might only be a cartoon but those scenes are difficult to watch. Anyone who writes knows that some things are not meant to be shared. They are for the author’s eyes alone. And to have the courage to show another your work, only to be ridiculed in return? That’s just devastating.
At this point, Tina’s already a writing superhero as far I’m concerned. I don’t blame her at all for going along with the blackmail – she’s only fourteen and high school is brutal. But then she manages to be even more courageous, and does something most of us wouldn’t even consider.
Tina owns her work.
Completely.
She writes an even more outrageous and extreme version of the story that was stolen. Then she reads it out loud to the entire school.
And then she keeps on writing.
Tina Belcher, Writing Superhero and a true inspiration to us all. She’s done being embarrassed. She won’t tolerate other people shaming her. She’s definitely not going to apologise for her creativity. And she has the courage to stand up and declare that this is who she is, this is what she likes to write, and that she’s going to continue, no matter what.
This week’s prompts
Use the following prompts to start a new piece, continue an existing one or to just have run with words:
1. A broken-down, rusty old…
2. Consider the consequences of…
3. The bird fluttered its wing…
4. I threw the apple core over the fence and…
5. The dark liquid spilled…
Questions? Suggestions? Feel free to drop me a line at zee@twomarshmallows.net. Use the sign up box to receive the newsletter (and future offers) directly. You can also follow or contact me via Facebook, Linked In, YouTube or Tumblr.