For many avid readers, the start of a new year means prepping the ever important “To Be Read” selection for the months ahead. Which makes sense: readers read. But writers should also read. Just as directors and screenwriters should watch movies; just as actors should go see plays. William Faulkner was once known to comment: “Read, read, read. Read everything–trash, classics, good and bad…” And for any writer, or for anyone who ever plans on writing, no piece of advice is more valuable.
I once had a conversation with a coworker about my disappointment in a book I was reading at the time. Her first response to my dissatisfaction was that I should just drop the book, unfinished. But as Faulkner expressed, there’s a benefit to reading all sorts of books–even the ones that are badly written or disappointing. Because as writers, we want to expose ourselves to a variety of techniques, voices, and writing styles. And while the good demonstrates how to craft a compelling story, the bad can also help give us a sense of what not to do.
Too often, the issue with writing a story, or creating any piece of art, for that matter, is becoming so close to the project that we are unable to recognize its flaws. Our creations, in many ways, are like our children. We want what’s best for them, of course, but because we have our proud parent goggles on all the time, we don’t always know what that might be. It’s the reason why writers have beta readers: to get that much needed outside perspective.
But a good way for a writer to practice being critical of their own work is to examine where others fail. And that is best accomplished by reading “the bad.” Every terribly crafted story has something to say about what, when, why, and how; and because it is not our own precious piece of work, it is easier for us to spot and deconstruct them as we go along. And, yes, it is slow going, and it can often be quite painful from both a reader’s and a writer’s perspective. But sometimes it takes watching other people make mistakes to realize you have been guilty of the same things. And you are not the exception to the rule.
Despite what you may think.
Any person who hopes to make words their craft needs to make words their living. That means the good, the bad, and the ugly as well. One cannot rightfully call themselves a writer if they ignore the necessary research that comes with it. Reading provides structures and formulas that good storytellers must take into account. And if you cannot read well, you certainly cannot expect to write well.
And so, come every January, writers and readers alike should take great care in compiling their “To Be Read” lists.
— C.M.
Night Owls, what are some lessons that “bad” books have taught you?
