What Bad Book Convinced You You Could Write?

[Wifetheif]

Let's have some fun. Most of us always had a desire to write BUT there was one particular book or author that convinced us that we could do better. I started out as a nonfiction writer. The nonfiction book that convinced me that I could do better was "Angels Haunted Halo: Baseball Tragedies Revisited" by a complete non entity named Danny Gallagher. This book was SO stupid! The stupidity really shines when he recounts the tragedy of Donnie Moore. One bad pitch had him so upset he could never put his life back together. It got so bad he shot his wife before turning the gun on himself. Fortunately, his wife survived. Moore's daughter was so traumatized by the event that she could no longer date black men. (Donnie Moore was black) At this point, Gallagher drops an aside to the reader that he had a black girlfriend in college and proceeds to give her a shout out by name! My book came out a few years after I read his. It won an award and was runner up for the best baseball book of the year from "Spitball" magazine. And I owe it all to crappy Danny Gallagher.
As far as fiction goes: Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. I swear this thing was written by a cliche bot. Dish supreme MC has an expensive shoe fetish? Check. Has a hunky, super smart but nerdy boyfriend? Check. "Genius" IQ evaporates to single digits when the plot requires it? Check. Our heroine BRILLIANT cryptographer can't solve a simple anagram? Check. Adding to the mess, Brown knows beans about computers, national security, or basic human emotions. I flung this book against the wall so many times while reading it, it fell apart!
What was the book that got you to step out either in the world of commercial publishing or here on L.Com? I'm sure we'll get some interesting replies.

 

[KeithD]

I didn't pick up story/book writing in relationship to what anyone else had written/was writing. As a child I was constantly spinning stories--serials going on forever--in my mind. As I was looking to what I'd do after retiring early from my government job, I just decided to write the stuff down, which was including a whole lot of interesting life's experience, rather than just spin it around in my mind (resulting in my first six published books).

But I've never traveled the "I can do better than this garbage" route as a writing motivator. I find that a bit disturbing for various reasons when I read others invoking that.

That said, since I just launched into writing those first six books (which were commissioned) before getting formal training in writing fiction, it's highly likely that, though they got published in the mainstream, it's one or more of those books that convinced some brilliant writer that they could write better than I did--and took that as motivation to do so.

 

[AchtungNight]

LRH’s Mission Earth series. This guy wrote enough pulp science fiction to inspire his fan club long after his death and some of it was- putting things nicely- a god awful mess. At least I enjoyed the action and some of the dialogue. Based Erika and other Scientologist celebrities in my ficverse on the good characters also (and Jessica Feshbach on the villains).

 

[Rob_Royale]

It was a story here on Lit. Don't remember which and I wouldn't call out the writer if I did.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I didn't start writing because someone else was bad at it, but there was one particular instance that kinda fits this thread. Some years ago I picked up couple of harlequin romances just to see what all the fuss was about.

The first one was so bad that every page was an eyeroll. It had two perfectly saintly people obviously destined to be together from the moment that they met, a completely irredeemable dick of a villain who was hopelessly stupid on top of that, and the only reason that our two angelic lovebirds stayed apart so long was that "it was complicated". of course they manage to overcome for their vomit-inducing HEA. If I could even remember the title or the author I would shame it all right here. I was already writing before I read this, but right from chapter 1 I knew that I could destroy this book.

I thought that maybe it was a one-off. I read the next one. I don't think that it was an actual harlequin, or maybe it was a harlequin sub-imprint. This one was clearly better written and a slightly more interesting female lead, but it was essentially the same. I got bored of the cookie cutter plot and put it down around halfway.

I started the third and final one. This one I think was actually a three novella compilation. One chapter in and I met the exact same character as in the first book. Oh, different name, different hair, different city, but saintly character kept apart from her destined lover by misunderstanding. So fucking boring. I gave up immediately.

Most of us could write grocery lists more interesting than this crap. Do not read paperback romances. It will lower your IQ. I personally lost a couple of points that I will never recover.

 

[stonedinstilletos]

It wasn’t a book. It was a story over on mcstories.com. It was actually not bad. I just felt like the author had rushed the ending so much that they missed the chance for some good stuff. So I started writing my own version of the same premise. I still haven't finished it. It’s buried in my WIP and one day I will finish it.

 

[Devinter]

I've been writing since my age was a singular digit - but I think it might have been The Great Gatsby that convinced me I might be able to do it in English. Not because the book was bad, necessarily - it was enjoyable at times - but because the writing felt.. Hmm.. Let's call it "achievable", even to a foreigner. And I knew that was one of the most beloved books of all time, crowning or featuring on many lists of 'greatest works ever written'. Still took me another ten-or-more years after reading it until I actually decided to have a serious go at it in English though. But I distinctly remember putting the Fitzgerald novel down and feeling quite inspired, and it was mostly because of how simple it was penned yet still able to make several key points and conjure up memorable moments and even quotes.

 

[AchtungNight]

I’ve also been inspired by the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and many other pulp series, but I wouldn’t necessarily call them bad books.

 

[Scarla]

I've always wanted to write but was unsure about what genre to pick. I love writing erotica, but I wanted to delve a little more into romance. It wasn't until I discovered Monster Romance as a niche that I started feeling like "I could do this."

I'm still evolving as a writer, and it's far from perfect. But reading some of the top-selling books in Monster Romance, I realized I could absolutely write something like that!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

When I was about seven and had read almost all of Enid Blyton's books, I decided to write a new Five Find-Outers story. I did a couple chapters before realising I actually had no idea how to create a plot. So I started some stories in the same notebook, based on other characters.

I came across the book a while back and actually my replication of the characters was pretty damn good, decent dialogue, and just needed a story. Similar to now, really.

I read all sorts of books - over a hundred Nancy Drew's and Hardy Boys from the three incarnations, dated classics, you name it. But the first book that had me throw it down and refuse to read any further because it was so insultingly crap was a Danielle Steel - I'd read about five of hers already. I was maybe 14 and figured the sentence "The warm sun made her feel sexy." was so fatuous, I'd lose brain cells if I read any more. I didn't really have a concept of 'sexy' at the time, but even now I do, I still think it's a meaningless sentence.

I decided to read the next book along on the shelf, instead. Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward is brilliant. Bleakly funny. And I was encouraged to keep writing bits of stuff. Some got shared on online fora, eventually some fanfic appearing AO3. I didn't write much for some years - partly down to reading Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, finishing it, and crying because I knew I'd never write anything so good. I had a similar reaction to Neal Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy and a couple of the mature Pratchett's, but then remembered reading some of their early work. The first few Pratchetts really aren't that great. I could manage that standard, surely?

Then a few conversations gave me some ideas for an actual fanfic novel, with plot! Which I wrote. Some people liked it. It gets a little ropey near the end and could do with a re-write, but hey, I'd done a novel! I could try anything!

And then I found how much bigger an audience I could get on Lit...

 

[SimonDoom]

I like to think I've been more inspired to write by the good than by the bad, but as someone who spent most of his adult life often reading fiction while never writing it, there were many times when I thought, "Surely, I could do that!"

I spent over 15 years reading erotic stories before writing one, here at Lit and at other sites, and while I was often delighted by the stories I was often chagrined at the bad spelling, or grammar, or other basic story mechanics. I was often inspired by the erotic ideas I encountered but found the execution wanting, and that gave me some incentive to see if I could do better.

I read the 50 Shades series a few years before I started writing, and while I thought it was an appealing erotic premise, I thought it was terribly executed. One thing I didn't like about it, aside from the bad prose, is that the author pulled her punches, in a sense. It started as a BDSM novel, but the BDSM essentially was explained away as the result of childhood trauma, something to be overcome rather than embraced. I decided when I was going to write erotic fiction that I would "embrace the kink," and I've taken that attitude ever sense.

 

[FotherMucker19]

The Holy Bible

 

[Duleigh]

I read all the great books especially the Holy Bible and they encouraged me to write but the thing what told me I could do so much better was:

HALLMARK CHANNEL CHRISTMAS MOVIES
LIFETIME NETWORK MURDER "MYSTERIES"

I did see a well constructed Christmas Movie on Hallmark, it was one of those "Prince falls in love with a poor American girl" kind of things, but it was done well. The Lifetime Movie Network is the worse! Lazy, insipid, flat, piss poor writing with plot holes you could drive a jeep through. In a story I've screwed up and changed a characters name, halfway through a Lifetime movie they will change the entire makeup of the character (to show their real character underneath or some stupid crap like that) they're horrible. Anyone who is addicted to the Lifetime Movie Network should not be allowed to vote... or operate heavy equipment. When watching a LMN movie keep in mind this formula that they always use:

1. The cute young blond wife is perfect in every way
2. The husband did it.
3. If the husband didn't do it, the brunette he was having an affair with did it
4. Mom is never right, but she means well
5. Same with the chief of police
6. Blood stains are easily cleaned up with a sponge and some soapy water

 

[Candy_Kane54]

The Eye of Argon - Jim Theis

 

[alohadave]

LRH’s Mission Earth series. This guy wrote enough pulp science fiction to inspire his fan club long after his death and some of it was- putting things nicely- a god awful mess. At least I enjoyed the action and some of the dialogue. Based Erika and other Scientologist celebrities in my ficverse on the good characters also (and Jessica Feshbach on the villains).

I found the whole set at a used book store when I was in high school.

It was good pulp sci-fi, which is admittedly a low bar. It's certainly better than Battlefield Earth, at any rate.

 

[SimonDoom]

I read all the great books especially the Holy Bible and they encouraged me to write but the thing what told me I could do so much better was:

HALLMARK CHANNEL CHRISTMAS MOVIES
LIFETIME NETWORK MURDER "MYSTERIES"

I did see a well constructed Christmas Movie on Hallmark, it was one of those "Prince falls in love with a poor American girl" kind of things, but it was done well. The Lifetime Movie Network is the worse! Lazy, insipid, flat, piss poor writing with plot holes you could drive a jeep through. In a story I've screwed up and changed a characters name, halfway through a Lifetime movie they will change the entire makeup of the character (to show their real character underneath or some stupid crap like that) they're horrible. Anyone who is addicted to the Lifetime Movie Network should not be allowed to vote... or operate heavy equipment. When watching a LMN movie keep in mind this formula that they always use:

1. The cute young blond wife is perfect in every way
2. The husband did it.
3. If the husband didn't do it, the brunette he was having an affair with did it
4. Mom is never right, but she means well
5. Same with the chief of police
6. Blood stains are easily cleaned up with a sponge and some soapy water

Those Hallmark movies are hilariously formulaic. I've seen a few. Young attractive woman leaves the big city and her stressful big city job to take a break and ends up in a small, idyllic, snow-covered town, and she meets the handsome widower who owns the inn, and his cute, button-nosed kid, and it's obvious they're right for each other, but some contrived plot point keeps them apart until the last five minutes of the show when they kiss after setting down their mugs of apple cider.

I've always thought they'd be ripe for a spoof where it turns out one of the two of them is a psychopathic killer. Yep, that's where my mind goes.

But plots like those do give the inexperienced like us some comfort. If stuff like that can work, it can't be THAT hard to do.

 

[alohadave]

Those Hallmark movies are hilariously formulaic. I've seen a few. Young attractive woman leaves the big city and her stressful big city job to take a break and ends up in a small, idyllic, snow-covered town, and she meets the handsome widower who owns the inn, and his cute, button-nosed kid, and it's obvious they're right for each other, but some contrived plot point keeps them apart until the last five minutes of the show when they kiss after setting down their mugs of apple cider.

I've always thought they'd be ripe for a spoof where it turns out one of the two of them is a psychopathic killer. Yep, that's where my mind goes.

But plots like those do give the inexperienced like us some comfort. If stuff like that can work, it can't be THAT hard to do.

Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig made a Lifetime style move a couple years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Deadly_Adoption

 

[Duleigh]

I've always thought they'd be ripe for a spoof where it turns out one of the two of them is a psychopathic killer.

Well, no. That's not a spoof. That's a Lifetime Movie Network formulaic Christmas movie. The cute innocent blond is now being stalked by a madman, not knowing it's the innkeeper she's been meaning to bang, or the innkeepers evil twin brother, or worse (chilling musical chords) the innkeepers evil brunette ex-girlfriend. The movie will end with a fallen Christmas tree laying on a dead body, the blood splattered innocent blond with eyes wide in terror hyperventilating as the inn's kindly 87 year old maid takes the pistol out of her hand saying "It's over now honey..."

 

[gunhilltrain]

I read all the great books especially the Holy Bible and they encouraged me to write but the thing what told me I could do so much better was:

HALLMARK CHANNEL CHRISTMAS MOVIES
LIFETIME NETWORK MURDER "MYSTERIES"

I did see a well constructed Christmas Movie on Hallmark, it was one of those "Prince falls in love with a poor American girl" kind of things, but it was done well. The Lifetime Movie Network is the worse! Lazy, insipid, flat, piss poor writing with plot holes you could drive a jeep through. In a story I've screwed up and changed a characters name, halfway through a Lifetime movie they will change the entire makeup of the character (to show their real character underneath or some stupid crap like that) they're horrible. Anyone who is addicted to the Lifetime Movie Network should not be allowed to vote... or operate heavy equipment. When watching a LMN movie keep in mind this formula that they always use:

1. The cute young blond wife is perfect in every way
2. The husband did it.
3. If the husband didn't do it, the brunette he was having an affair with did it
4. Mom is never right, but she means well
5. Same with the chief of police
6. Blood stains are easily cleaned up with a sponge and some soapy water

Well, bad movies inspired me to try screenplays a long time ago. Then I found out that screenplays have a lot of format and time constraints. And few people read them unless they are specifically looking to produce a flim.

As for books - even though I haven't like them all - I can't think of one which made me try to do better than the work in question.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Those Hallmark movies are hilariously formulaic. I've seen a few. Young attractive woman leaves the big city and her stressful big city job to take a break and ends up in a small, idyllic, snow-covered town, and she meets the handsome widower who owns the inn, and his cute, button-nosed kid, and it's obvious they're right for each other, but some contrived plot point keeps them apart until the last five minutes of the show when they kiss after setting down their mugs of apple cider.

BAAARRRRFFFF!

I've always thought they'd be ripe for a spoof where it turns out one of the two of them is a psychopathic killer. Yep, that's where my mind goes.

Do it!

 

[onehitwanda]

*tugs her braid*

 

[MelissaBaby]

But I've never traveled the "I can do better than this garbage" route as a writing motivator. I find that a bit disturbing for various reasons when I read others invoking that.

What I find disturbing is that most people who say that are mistaken.

 

[lovecraft68]

My motivation is wanting to do better than myself as far as seeing improvement in my writing over time. I sometimes look at a prior story and think, "Yeah, that one wasn't so good" but I don't do it with other people's stories. I don't need to run someone down to try to pick myself up.

 

[Britva415]

Most of us always had a desire to write BUT there was one particular book or author that convinced us that we could do better.

Not me

 

[Wifetheif]

Those Hallmark movies are hilariously formulaic. I've seen a few. Young attractive woman leaves the big city and her stressful big city job to take a break and ends up in a small, idyllic, snow-covered town, and she meets the handsome widower who owns the inn, and his cute, button-nosed kid, and it's obvious they're right for each other, but some contrived plot point keeps them apart until the last five minutes of the show when they kiss after setting down their mugs of apple cider.

I've always thought they'd be ripe for a spoof where it turns out one of the two of them is a psychopathic killer. Yep, that's where my mind goes.

But plots like those do give the inexperienced like us some comfort. If stuff like that can work, it can't be THAT hard to do.

I did a fan fiction satire of this idea that was just rejected by L.Com where an arch-villain captures Susan Storm and exiles her to a farm in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. An erotic Lifetime romance ensues where the world famous Invisible Woman becomes literally invisible as the Stepford Wife of a pig farmer! I posted it elsewhere. If you would like to read it DM me.