Author Harlan Coben has said he experiences “imposter syndrome” about his work and believes only bad writers think they are good. The 64-year-old, whose novels include The Stranger, Fool Me Once and Safe, has seen several of his books adapted for screen by Netflix.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Coben said: “I actually think only bad writers think they’re good. We all have a little bit of that imposter syndrome, and what’s interesting is it sounds like a paradox, but it’s not.”
A Writer’s Contradiction
Coben explained the apparent contradiction in how he views his own work. “Because on the one hand, I’m always like, ‘I suck, I’m terrible, I hate this’, but at the exact same time I have the hubris to think ‘you’re going to spend 20 pounds, and you’re going to spend five or six hours reading it, or listening to it on audio, and you should’,” he said. “And those seem to be a complete contradiction, but they’re not inside of a writer.”
The author also described how he categorises his books, saying he calls them “the novel of immersion rather than crime or thriller”. He added: “I want my novel to be the one you take to bed tonight, it’s 11 o’clock, ‘I’m just going to read for 10 minutes’, and the next thing you know, it’s four in the morning, and you’ve been reading. And I love that feeling as a reader, and I love to give that feeling as a writer.”
Desert Island Picks and Next Adaptation
For his desert island records, Coben chose Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road, Ain’t Nobody by Rufus And Chaka Khan and Teddy Swims’ The Door. His book The Woods is set to be the latest of his works adapted by Netflix, due for release next year and starring former Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan. The full interview is available on BBC iPlayer.
