What to do with a Bad Book

What to do with a Bad Book Weve all read them. The books not edited well enough. The books that probably shouldnt have been published. The books that made you scratch your head wondering what the author was thinking. â€Å"Life is too short to read books that Im not enjoying.† ~Melissa Marr â€Å"Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced ~Paxton Hood Many of my friends say they cannot put a book down without reading it all the way through, in hopes the book redeems itself. Others say they read at least half the book, giving the author the chance to find the story. Sorry, I dont have the time. It frustrates readers when we spend our hard-earned spare time, as well as the money, only to feel weve wasted both. Thats why we often wait until someone we trust has vetted it, or it hits some best-seller list because we invest. Its why we read the sample pages on Amazon or Kindle. But I have a suggestion. If you indeed are a writer with goals to improve, if you hope one day to publish a story of your own, then next time a bad book falls into your lap, read it anyway. And as you go, mark it up. You dont care if you write in a bad book. You wont pass it on anyway. Note the bad dialogue, lack of internal monologue, poor flow, shallow characterization. Cross out the character that really didnt propel the story, and embellish the setting. Add scent where there is none, and chop out the words that stood in the way of a crisp point. Highlight, write, cross out, bend pages. The book is no good anyway, right? This is where you learn more about how to edit . . . and how to write. You take this piece of crap and you make it worthy. Its difficult to edit your own work, so why not hone your skills We learn from good writing, but we can learn from the bad if we take the time to understand the reasons the bad did not make the cut.