“This is a really great book.”

Reading a really good book is a wonderful opening into someone else’s world. It can refresh you after reading mediocre… or just plain bad books. However, it can also be terribly disheartening when trying to write your own.

Not that quality has anything to do with success; but it helps. I try to reassure myself that if really bad books can somehow make it to be published, sometimes hitting the best seller lists, then my decently written books can also be read and enjoyed.

So recently, I’ve finished reading “The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (“bag of galoshes”) and was bowled away by it. First off, because it was set in post-apocolyptic Bangkok, which appealed to me greatly since I lived there for a year. However, second, it was the perfect mix of steampunk and cyberpunk which fit beautifully together. It was also a great choice, because even though it was written ten years ago, it’s setting of a world ravaged by genetically engineered diseases and climate change didn’t seem too far fetched. The characters were wonderful, nuanced, and blended well together to tell the whole story of a Thailand in trouble.

However, it also had another side effect. It made me completely stop wanting to write my own story. Of course, I wasn’t that motivated to outline it as of late, but having my own story set after the warming seemed rather trite after reading the major award winning book. What kind of story could I tell that could compare with that?!

So I feel like I need a better story idea–and after reading Leviathan Wakes, I’m realizing that my merchant marine in space story is kinda weak tea as well. Thankfully, I already knew that was whale puke, so that’ll have to sit in the electronic desk drawer for a little longer.

But what do you think? Have you read something so good that it’s turned you off to working on your own stories? Let me know in the comments below!