Read Bad Books with Bad Writing

โ€œEvery book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.โ€  – Stephen King, a.k.a. “The King of Horror”

Today we have a few words of wisdom to share with you, someone who reads and writes. Yes, you are “someone who reads and writes.” Not specifically a reader or a writer, because usually we think of readers as people who like to read books and writers as people who write for a living or as a hobby. Here we mean anyone who reads anything and writes anything.

If you text your friends or write emails for work. If you read your friend’s texts, restaurant menus, or read emails at work. Anyone who reads or writes.

Take a moment to read some bad writing. Read an email full of grammar mistakes. Read a book that shouldn’t have been published. Why? Because you can learn a lot from reading something that is poorly written. Bad books can have just as important lessons to teach as good books.

Good communication is vital for everyone. If you write clearly, you can avoid misunderstandings from bad texts. If you write well, you are a good communicator. And that’s just the beginning.

Read a lot, and don’t just read the good stuff. When you read bad prose, you learn what not to write. If you want to write well, for blog posts or for your novel, then read a lot. Read good books and bad books. Be a critical reader and take lessons about what makes a piece of writing good, and what makes it bad. As author Stephen King once said, each book you read has valuable lessons to offer.

What lessons have you learned from something you’ve read?

Comments

37 responses to “Read Bad Books with Bad Writing”

  1. ๐ŸŒ My pk world ๐ŸŒŽ Avatar

    NICE POST ๐Ÿ’™โค๏ธ๐Ÿ’—

    BLESSED AND HAPPY DAY ๐ŸŒž
    GREETINGS ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฆ
    ๐ŸŒน๐Ÿ’๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒธ๐Ÿต๏ธ

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      Hope you have a great day too!

      Like

  2. Pkmundo pk ๐ŸŒŽ Avatar

    NICE POST ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’ฏ

    Blessed and Happy Saturday ๐ŸŒž

    Greetings ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Pkmundo pk ๐ŸŒŽ Avatar

        Happy monday ๐ŸŒ„

        Like

  3. Miss Julie Avatar

    This is really great

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Belladonna Avatar

    Vanya this is great!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Belladonna Avatar

        You’re welcome!

        Liked by 1 person

  5. MsHazyBrain Avatar

    Great post friend

    Like

  6. Empish Avatar

    Your post gave me something to think about in a way I had not before. I come across a form of bad writing when it is too wordy. Sentences that are not written tight and take too long to explain the point. I find myself rewritting those sentences in my mind to make them shorter.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      That’s actually a great exercise: thinking about how you would rewrite something. Thanks for pointing that out!

      Like

      1. Empish Avatar

        No problem.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Mike and Kellye Hefner Avatar

    I am an avid reader and an unpublished writer. These are great lessons for everyone! Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      Thanks for commenting! Glad you found the post useful. Looking forward to reading more about your travels.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. DEVANG UPADHYAYA Avatar

    Now I understand why you read my work with interest ๐Ÿ˜›

    Btw, I do love reading, it gives me ideas. We can find ideas in every form on writing good or bad

    Like if it’s bad, we can think on how to improve it.

    And if it’s good, like yours, PG’s, few other great bloggers, I can learn to improve my work just like that.

    People need to be open about constructive criticism.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      Your work is well researched and presented in a way that makes the information easy to read! The infographics are also informative.

      I try to read as much as I can. Great way to learn.

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Chen Song Ping @ TPTan Avatar

    Even I had to edit my blog post several times,… sometimes!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      Sometimes I have to edit mine a few times too!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Pooja G Avatar

    This is a really interesting way of improving your writing skills and I think you’re right. Even bad writing has a lot to offer us. I read a book I hated a few years back and it taught me a lot about what I don’t want my book to be like.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      I remember a writing class I went to a while back. The teacher ripped apart the opening paragraph of a best selling novel as an example of bad writing and showed how it could have been improved. That lesson stuck with me.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Pooja G Avatar

        Wow, that sounds like a powerful lesson.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. DEVANG UPADHYAYA Avatar

      I read your work
      And I learn from that

      Not that it’s bad ๐Ÿ˜…
      It’s fantastic, and it inspire me to write something just like that. Ni

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Pooja G Avatar

        Thanks, haha happy to hear that ๐Ÿ˜Š

        Liked by 2 people

  11. equipsblog Avatar

    I learned that unnecessary words or phrases can and should be eliminated to streamline things.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

      I’m still working on streamlining in my own writing!

      Like

      1.  Avatar
        Anonymous

        Me too. This was a skill I learned in HS my senior year.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Vanya Wryter Consulting Avatar

        It’s a skill we can use for life for sure!

        Liked by 1 person

  12. muktaverma Avatar
    muktaverma

    Both good and bad writing helps us understand the elements of quality writing and avoid common mistakes. Thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. ๐Ÿ™For a better ๐ŸŒ Avatar

    NICE POST ๐Ÿ’—๐ŸŒท

    Liked by 1 person

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