The Beauty of a Bad Book

There’s nothing like a good book to inspire a writer. You read an incredible story that transports you to another place, and magically, you’re unable to put the book down. The beautiful prose, the edgy dialogue, you read it and say to yourself, “I want to create something like this.”

That said, there’s nothing like a bad book to get you writing.

Don’t get me wrong – I love, love, LOVE getting lost in a good book. But . . . I’ve noticed that there’s a little problem with that. When I can’t put a book down, my reading time cuts into my writing time. I find myself making bargains – write 500 words and you get to read five pages. Only five pages turns into ten and then I’m sweating trying to squeeze in the other 1500 words I try to write a day, laptop on the counter while I’m making dinner, literally stir the pot, type a sentence multitasking, and that’s no fun.

I consider myself lucky that I had a really long run of great books to read. Only, that seems to have come to an end. At first, I was really uncomfortable, pulling at my collar, looking at the words on the page, thinking, “But this isn’t good. The writing doesn’t flow, the characters aren’t developed, I don’t like this at all.” It was the same kind of itchy uncomfortableness that comes from trying to give up chocolate. It just doesn’t feel right.

Instead of looking across the room at my book with longing, I find myself not looking at it at all. Instead, I find myself typing. Creating. Being much more productive in my own endeavors. And when I take a break and, say, take the dogs outside, the book is there. When we come back in, there is no battle to put the book down and get back to work. I just do it.

Eventually, another incredible book will fall into my hand. I’ll treasure my time with it, even if it takes time from my own writing, because you gain so much from reading a good book. But if the next book is subpar, I’ll read that one, too. Because sometimes bad books, stories with gaping holes in the plots and poor writing and boring characters, have even more to teach you. What not to do when you get back to work!