"You seem like such a good girl," I told an acquaintance. "You seem so responsible and caring. You run your own business. You’re always considerate of other people’s feelings. You seem like you were the teacher’s pet. You’ve strived to live up to your parents’ expectations.
"I’d love to hear you write from your bad girl. Can you get in touch with your bad girl? The part of you that is ashamed and selfish? The part of you that is jealous and vindictive and needy? I’d love to hear you writing about stealing from someone. It may not have been money, but surely there’s been a time when you took something that did not belong to you.
"I had a girl, Holly Randal, who writes everything like a high school essay. Very formal. You’re a little bit like her. You obey all the rules of grammar and usage. I’d love to hear you read something that was fragmented. That was a run-on. Surely in your speech you sometimes violate the rules of grammar. Incorporate that grammatical naughtiness in your writing. Don’t violate the rules of grammar willy nilly. Tape record yourself talking to a good friend and locate the ways you violate grammar and usage in the vernacular way you speak and then incorporate that into your writing. Maybe tape record your therapy and write from that. Incorporate the informality and directness of everyday speech into your writing."
