Between Good Books and Bad Books

Based on my experience reading not that many kind of books from not that many different genres, I think I can come to a conclusion: Good books give you inspiration, while bad books give you exasperation.

Not all of the books I read are the good ones. And I'm not the kind who let it go wholeheartedly. When I get annoyed by a book, it's pretty serious, like I will go berserk and have this sudden urge to rip the book and throw it to paper-shredder or even burn it with gasoline. I will boast to people to not read that book ever—but mostly they won't hear me because what I think as a bad book almost sometimes be considered as good book to them—and declare how disgusting it is. Yes, I'm overreacting, but now that I think of it, maybe it is just because I'm actually a bad-tempered person, yet I tend to hold my anger to people (well, not always) so the innocent books are my release. Haha.

When my friends ask me for writing tips (not that they think I write good stuff or something, but more like I'm the only one in the social circle who consistently—or hopelessly—write), I usually suggest them to read more and just write down everything in their mind. There is no shortcut. I don't think someone is born to be a good writer—someone grows to become a good writer. If you read more, you will learn what it takes to write an interesting piece; the character, plot, or the way the author describes its settings. Sometimes, you may also catch a glimpse of inspiration while reading, at least like unconsciously making spin-off stories in your head or imagining alternative endings. 

Bad books in the other way, surprisingly could give the same effects if you try hard enough. Between the temptation to step on it and flush it down the toilet, the bad book will force me to think: what is in this book I consider rubbish that makes editors think worth publishing? Bad book or not, it is still a published book, and in some of my cases, sometimes also a popular one. That kind of thought will somehow motivate you. It still gives you exasperation though, but in a good way.

The real point of this bad posting is, you need to read more books. You won't know if it's good or bad until you read it yourself—yes, reviews are such good help, but people do have different taste. You have plenty of time to read if you can just cut down all the time you spend on your Twitter page. While some tweets are useful and good for insight, some are making you want to push the unfollow and report as spam button but sadly can't out of politeness. True story.