Yes, It Really Is That Bad

At some point in your writing, you may question whether your story is any good. You can't rely on your first reaction, because it is usually at this point that a writer becomes overly critical of her work.

But here are some story lines that, yes, really are that bad.

1. "After the death of his goldfish, a priest renounces his faith and gets a job at the local White Castle, where he becomes addicted to special sauce and tries to dance his way to getting respect on the streets."

2. "A man's lifelong plan to dress up like Jabba the Hutt and star in a new line of workout tapes finally comes to fruition, but everything goes horribly awry when the man gets ink poisoning, lead poisoning and mercury poisoning all at once."

3. "When a woman dies and is reincarnated as a power saw, she uses a telepathic link with feral cats to help trick and trap and kill her former-lover-turned-murderer-turned-taxidermist."

Thanks to the Guide to Literary Agents, where they hold the "Worst Storyline Ever" contest.

Go ahead and write the worst story idea imaginable. A good laugh can go a long way. And after that, anything you write will start looking pretty good.