The 'Bad' Books

We’ve all read them. Sometimes we even enjoy reading them. I’m talking about those ‘bad’ novels. I mean those novels that aren’t even worthy of abuse from critics. Those novels where the plot doesn’t make sense and the lines are cheesy and you’re able to figure out the conclusion from the blurb.

I personally don’t believe that, willingly, any author sets out to write the aforementioned ‘bad’ novel but, it happens. It’s my belief that it’s every writer’s worst nightmare to write a novel that just isn’t good enough.

The concept for my novel started out in a daydream as have all my other previous projects, yet nothing has become of any of them. I’ve worked hard on some pieces and, at the time, never doubted they would be published. Yet there under the bed in my old room, the tons of pages I wasted lie. Their once vibrant shade of white, yellows as small bugs roam across their surface.

I have a vision of my novel being a success, but what writer doesn’t? I want it to become a movie someday too. I want, for once, for me to dream of a story and commit to seeing it become a novel. But sometimes I get disheartened. I browse through previous things that I have written, works from a year or two ago. Looking back on what I’d written I feel embarrassed. I wonder to myself how I ever could have thought that what I had created was any good. I guess, that in itself, is proof that I am growing as a writer however I don’t want to look back in twelve months and think those same thoughts.

As I take James Ellory’s advice and read,read, read, read, read, read, I wonder to myself when will I ever write something that is good enough? Someone, somewhere, once said that you are your own worst critic and to a degree that is true. I just hope I don’t lose heart on this one. I’ve invested more time on this novel than any before and I have big dreams for it. Hopefully, if I stick with it and I continue to mature as a writer, ‘Getting Away with Murder’ won’t be one of those ‘bad’ books but rather the opposite, the novel that still has you talking long after you reached the final page (for the right reasons of course).