~A Bitter Swallow~

 


I was reading a book the other day, and the main character described feeling as though he were just a character written by a bad writer.  Funny, yes... one of those mirror in a mirror in a mirror type things.  However, I completely identified with that feeling.  It was so perfect, that I had to stop and step back for a moment;  look to see if I could see a large face in the sky outside- pencil posed above the paper that is my world.  I could envision myself there, the paper upon his messy desk (for yes- it would be a man writing my story.  I couldn't tell you why that would be.), the hand not holding the pencil shoved roughly into a scraggly mess of tangled hair on his head, his brow knit in frustration as he tried to adequately describe the scene, but not being able to pluck the right words out of his mind. 



Truly, he reminds me of me, in male form, years from now when I am old and grey and still trying to get that one story completely written down, edited, finished, and ready for publishing, and most importantly- out of my head.  I feel terribly for the poor guy.


I digress.

Back to feeling like a character written by a terrible author.  I really do.  A rushed story.  One without much depth.  The plot line is shaky and not well thought out; scenes shabbily described, murky and left completely to the imagination, which could vary from reader to reader, shifting the story drastically in some areas.    My character feels unfinished- lackluster.  Relationships are not very well-written, leaving the reader to feel no real connection to anything about my character.  My description is jumpy- my personality spread all over the place, leaving me wandering and confused.  More so maybe than the reader.   The reader is left with an unpleasant taste in their mouth- no interest.  The book is tossed aside, half-read, and that's only if they were dedicated...


The story was Roadwork by Richard Bachman, by the way.  In no way, shape, or form a terrible writer. Quite the contrary- as far as I am concerned. I wish he could have been the one to write my story. Of course, then it would have probably been a crazy horror story. Maybe lackluster bad writing is okay....