What is good writing?
I often wonder if good writing is only a subjective matter of personal taste. Or is there a more precise way to judge whether writing is good or not? These are questions I think about with my own writing projects, although I try not to dwell on them too much because they only bring out my inner editor.
In an attempt to satisfy my curiosity, I did a few Google searches to see if there is anything on the web that could shed some light on what makes good writing. I really didn’t find much in the way of trustworthy sources that I could quote for this post. There were a lot of forum posts and other bits and pieces scattered around the web. But nothing that satisfied me.
I do have my own personal opinions about good writing that I’ve formed over the years of being a chronic reader. Here’s what I think:
- The foundation of good writing is technical. All authors adhere to the same rules of grammar and spelling. There are obvious exceptions, but if you pick any book off the shelf at your local bookstore you’ll find the technical parts of writing will be there.
- Good writing makes sense and is understandable. All good writing must, to some degree, make sense. The level of this measurement can vary (i.e. different reading levels), the premise is still the same. Even if a sentence or paragraph of a book doesn’t seem to make sense or is understandable, it still fits within the larger context of the book.
- Good writing is entertaining and/or informative. In other words, there should be a point to any written piece. It doesn’t really matter what that point is, just as long as a point is made. This begs the reader to ask: Why should I care enough to read this?
- Overall, good writing is very subjective. Look at the books on the bestseller list compared to that of books that have won prestigious prizes, like that of the Man Booker Prize. What a lot of readers will say is really good writing, others will say it’s complete crap. I don’t think either opinion is right or wrong.
Notice that we start with something very technical; good grammar and spelling. This is the foundation for everything else. And as we progress through the list, the criteria for good writing becomes more and more subjective.
I answered my own question that what constitutes ‘good writing’ is very subjective. However, the foundation of good writing, no matter what our standards might be are based on more technical criteria.
What do you think makes good writing? How do you judge a piece of writing as good or not? Share your ideas in the comments below!
Related posts
- 7 Tips for Good Writing
- 5 Ways to overcome self-doubt while writing!
- Trimming the fat: Avoid redundancy in your writing
- Drunk Writing
- The myth that drugs & alcohol can improve your writing
Read More: Writing
