Writing Your Way Out of a Wet Paper Sack

by John Hewitt on 8/30/2007

Paper Sack (not wet)Has anyone ever told you that you couldn’t write your way out of a wet paper sack? It really isn’t that difficult. The important thing remember that this is not a job for a computer. You are much better off using a pen or a pencil. You should press down very hard when you write. That will be helpful because, as you remember, the paper sack is wet. You can use that moisture to your advantage. Wet paper sacks tear more easily than dry paper sacks. Keep that in mind at all times. The key to writing your way out of the wet paper sack is to write in such a way that the wet paper begins to tear. Once you’ve torn a hole in the wet paper sack, you’re halfway out of it.

Write on the side of the wet paper sack (either from the inside or the outside depending upon the size of the sack you find yourself in). Press down hard, preferably with a pencil or a high quality pen. This should get the paper, weakened by the moisture, to tear. Once it begins to tear, you will probably want to increase the size of your letters. Writing with small letters is great in the beginning, when you want to establish a hole, but tiny handwriting will become an impairment later on. In the later stages, You will want to write large, swooping letters because this will help to open up the tear in the sack. The larger the tear, the easier it will be to write your way out of it. Towards the end, you might want your letters to be several inches, or even a foot or so high. This will broaden the hole until the entire sack tears away.

Note: Avoid felt tip pens. A felt tip pen or a marker may prove to be insufficient for the task at hand.

Now you are almost done. In the final stages, it is important to remember that you are writing your way out of a wet paper sack, not acting or dancing your way out of a wet paper sack. Those tasks require an entirely different skill set that we won’t go in to here. Keep your pen or pencil in hand. Use it to remove the individual pieces (wet paper sacks tend to fall apart). Place the pencil over the remaining pieces of wet paper sack and let your prose flow. Write with a slight flicking motion so that the paper seems to almost fly off your pencil. Be diligent. Make sure that every piece of paper sack is off of you. At that point you will have written your way out of a wet paper sack. Congratulations! You can proudly tell all of your friends that indeed, you do have this skill and have proven it.

Note: You might want to have someone film your escape from the sack so that you can avoid having to perform this act multiple times. As important as the skill is, writing your way out of a wet paper sack isn’t particularly enjoyable, so you will probably prefer to perform this task only once.

Comments on this entry are closed.

{ 14 comments }

Sandra Cano August 30, 2007 at 9:23 am

LMAO!!!!

I’m seriously going to do this and frame my work for future inspiration. Thanks!

John Hewitt August 30, 2007 at 9:27 am

Glad I could help Sandra

Michael J. Welch August 30, 2007 at 10:01 am

That’s one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time… Thanks.

Cindy August 31, 2007 at 8:08 am

This is a great..lol

kerry quiniano November 13, 2007 at 12:10 am

very veryveryveryveryveryveryveryvery good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i have lern many things from u!!!!!!!!!!!i can use this as investigatory project.

DemonAshes January 1, 2008 at 10:06 pm

I’d like you see you’re explanaton for acting or dancing your way our of a wet paper sack. Haha. This was very good, and well written. I just imagine this huge wet sack falling from the heavens onto my head. Now I’ll know what to do, thanks!

Blu March 12, 2008 at 1:54 pm

I am going to have to actually do this.

KG Lew June 6, 2008 at 2:44 pm

lol … the imagery…. the idea… too much to handle… I love your blog btw

KG Lews last blog post..Issue 69 : Writing Flawless Sales Pages (Part 2)

Alina Padilla July 17, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Great play on words! We will deffinately offer this as inspiration to the many who come to us seeking help. Thanks for the laugh.

Kansas City Web Design Company July 22, 2008 at 3:55 pm

Really entertaining stuff here…Appreciate the laugh! Do you blog for other blogs as well?

John Hewitt July 22, 2008 at 5:01 pm

@ Kansas

I occasionally guest blog, but most of my time is spent on this blog.

Ewan Kennedy August 7, 2008 at 6:51 am

@ John.

I hardly dare ask but what were you doing in the paper bag in the first place? Also, I’d be interested to hear if there have been any other inanimate objects out of which you have had to write your way.

Bill Cantrell September 27, 2009 at 10:45 am

The graphic you chose to illustrate your piece is a dry paper bag.

J.C. Hewitt September 28, 2009 at 9:48 am

@Bill — Your powers of observation have been noted.

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