words | Fred Aiken Writing

March 5, 2025

The Self-Help You Didn’t Want, But Probably Deserved

Daily writing prompt

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

Let’s take that frown, and turn it upside down, alright? Or at least kick it in the nuts, why don’t we? Fa-fa-fa-fall-full-fool-flat. You see? When you keep on winning as much as I do in life, then certain negative words like ‘failure’ aren’t even in your vocabulary.

So what I’m going to need from you is to, you guessed it, throw all those negative words and feelings right out the window. Just forget ’em. I don’t ever want to hear you say a single one of them ever again. You got that?

Good! Because if I hear a single gosh-darn negative thing uttered from your lips, then I’ll come over there. I’m not one to threaten violence on another one of God’s good creatures, but if you keep up with such a bad attitude then I’m of the opinion that you had it coming.

But look, we don’t need to focus on that. In fact, I insist that we don’t! You’re here–we’re here to discuss how you start winning all day every day. That’s all I want to hear from you. You’re winning because of….

That’s right! Because you’re a winner. That’s all you really need. That’s all that every winner really does. They just declare themselves the winner. They won’t need another person or institution or corporate stooge to tell them their own self-worth. A winner is worth just as much as they need to be, and not a penny less. Though when you’re winning, you won’t even being counting those pennies since they’re so darn inconsequential.

So go on, get out there and start winning. I gave you all the tools you’ll need to become the sort of winner that’s successful ever-ree sing-gall time! I know it’s doesn’t seem like I said all that much, but then again, it doesn’t really take much to succeed in this life. Just so long as you’re willing to take it!

February 25, 2025

Ctrl-Alt-Delete the Dictionary

Daily writing prompt

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

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I spill over the dictionary, wondering
what should go, what should be left out,
to never seen or heard from again,

how, I ask no one in particular, can I make the dictionary--
this massive, bloated, under-utilized piece of academic erudition--
great again?

make these words great again,
make them mean something, anything, yet again, again, and again,

and then it hits me, like an energy-efficient light bulb shattering into my skull,
luminescence forcefully making its way through the synapses in my head
until i finally know--i know what to do,

just three quick taps on the keyboard,
ctrl-alt-delete
the whole damn thing

that way I can start again, 
with my own damn version of the dictionary, a great dictionary,
The Great Dictionary, I'll call it,

perhaps this time,
I'll finally be able to remember all the words in it,
but I also wouldn't hold my breath

July 7, 2024

crawling, wriggling, words

words crawling about in the back,
like worms wriggling for freedom,
wondering what’s coming out,
what’s going to be said,
but it’s not always the right time to say it,
at least not yet,
put a lid on it,
and gulp down the words
until they are a secret