Writing Lessons from a Worm

by Pat Mill​er

I recently learned to make a vermicompost bin--otherwise known as a worm farm. The idea is to recycle kitchen veggie scraps by feeding them to hungry Red Wrigglers. The worms will happily, over time, turn them into fertile compost for the garden.

As I tore up strips of newspaper for their bedding, it occurred to me that worms are a great model for us writers. 

​Here are three reasons to imitate a Red Wriggler:
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1. Worms aren't easily discouraged.
Though worms have no teeth, they tackle egg shells, carrots, even coffee filters. The repeated rippling of their muscles works the food through their long digestive system to produce castings coveted by gardeners. And this goes on every day.

Writers often create a first draft that is as toothless as a worm's mouth. But through repeated finger movements on the keyboard plus the powerful juices of a brain in gear, they can produce work coveted by readers. And this goes on every day.

2. Worms reside among words.
Strips of newsprint make a good snack for worms and fill their home with words. 

Writers fill their homes with the words of others, reading hundreds of books for children, nonfiction and fiction. Those books act like mentors, giving us food for thought. Instead of newsprint, writers need a library card.
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3. Worms can turn most anything into the good stuff.​​
Red Wrigglers turn ordinary things like tea bags and veggie scraps into fertile compost that will one day help plants grow.

Writers use ordinary things as sources of ideas. A writer's "worm brain" would watch the Kentucky Derby, and would wonder, "Why do the women wear such outlandish hats? Why do racehorses have a buddy horse before the race? Why do they run counter-clockwise? Why do they put a horseshoe made of flowers around the neck of the winning horse?" Writers find the answers and convert them to text that will one day help readers grow.

​Worms may be lowly and unsung, but they make excellent role models for writers. Here's hoping you become like a Red Wriggler!