Write A Short, Bad Book?

Anyone can write a bad book, right?

This is a strategy for one who is stuck or fearful of starting.

It’s a mental game about expectations.

If you are worried you can’t write something long and good, change the narrative.

Set out to write something short and bad.

And then maybe, with a bit of editing help, you can have a finished product that’s short and ok. Or even, short and good.

Better than nothing.

I would rather be an “ok writer” than “not a writer.”

Just start writing.

At some point I personally got over this hangup. I am not even sure how.

See, I know most of what I write is not that great.

I just finally got to a point that I didn’t much care care what other people thought.

One of my dearest friends began her last novel—one that went on to become a prizewinning best-seller—by telling herself that she was going to write a short, bad book. For a long time, she talked about the short, bad book she was writing. And she believed it. It released her from her fear of failure. It’s a beautiful strategy. Anyone can write a short, bad book, right?

-Dani Shapiro, Still Writing