What Makes Good Writing?

Writing is something of such a personal nature that sometimes it can be hard to define what it really is that makes good or bad writing and why. There are few standards that hold true across all categories, genres, and types of prose, and little in the way of technical rules that can be determined to be effective in any type of writing - most of which are consistently broken by the best authors without anyone seeming to mind. The real test of true greatness in literary form is what the reader takes away from any given piece. Writing is, after all, done for the benefit of the reader, and without such a reader the writing would be quite useless - so the gains, likes, dislikes, and overall opinion of the reader is what matters most in the world of literary merit. That said, there are many people who will rant and rave in contempt because they think that many of the average readers in the world wont “get” their book or be able to fully appreciate it because they don’t understand. This is, frankly, a load of crap. If your book is good, and I mean truly good, then it will appeal to people regardless of their background or their level of education. The best books of the world do just that. They enthrall, entertain, and otherwise capture their readers with their prose, plot, characters, dialogue, and so forth. A really good book will be relatable to people from all walks of life.

Good books should also be fresh and original. There’s nothing new in the way of stories and plot ideas under the sun - ultimately everything at a bare bones level is a remake of some story or another but its the authors ability to put a new spin on it and make it personal that recreates the tale and floods it with new life. There’s no excuse for a copycat remake of another story-line but many people have had some success with books that were inspired by a classic work that they have placed some of their own personality into.

A well-written book should have all of the basic elements of good storytelling in it without any gaping plot holes or obvious errors. Characters should be moved forward not just be external events but also by the internal changes they experience as well. They should be realistic, well rounded, and not just placed in the book to serve the story or to move the plot forward as this will create unrealistic dialogue and will take attention off of the story. Books should be relatable and it should be easy for readers to identify with the main character and to want them to succeed in whatever way the story leads them towards. The book should be easy to read but not necessary dumbed down, it should flow and progress logically, and it should be captivating to the reader. You never want a reader to be able to put a book down.

Overall books are extremely hard to judge but the very best ones will stand out time and time again just as long as people are willing to pay attention.