What is “good writing”?
Well, in my opinion, good writing is a piece of literature that has structure. One that you can tell the author had a process while writing it and actually followed it. It is not a piece of writing that jumps all over the place and confuses everyone that reads it. Of course it is grammatically correct and well written. Good writing paints a picture in your mind and makes you feel as though you are there in the novel with the character. It describes everything well and never leaves you missing a piece of the puzzle.
Good writing can be summed up using the writings of Nicholas Spark’s “The Notebook”.
This is my favorite novel. It has structure and it is very well written.
“He especially liked to look at the trees and their reflections in the river. North Carolina trees are beautiful in deep autumn: greens, yellows, reds, oranges, every shade between. Their dazzling colors grow with the sun, and for the hundredth time, Noah Calhoun wondered if the original owners of the house had spent their evenings thinking the same thing….The evening passed, staying warm, nice. Noah listened to the crickets and the rustling leaves, thinking that the sound of nature was more real and aroused more emotion than things like cars and planes. Natural things gave back more than they took, and their sounds always brought him back to the way man was supposed to be. There were times during war, especially after a major engagement, when he had often thought about these simple sounds. “It’ll keep you from going crazy,” his father had told him the day he’d shipped out. “It’s God’s music and it’ll take you home.” “
That is two paragraphs from the novel. I picked those two because when I read it I could visualize it perfectly. The paragraphs have an excellent description of the surroundings around the character, Noah. The paragraphs have good structure and I can see, in my mind, everything that Noah sees.
As for my writing, I always follow a process. I brainstorm my ideas and outline what I want each paragraph to be about. I do try to be as descriptive as possible, as I know that always makes a piece of writing more interesting.
I like your comment that says "Good writing paints a picture in your mind and makes you feel as though you are there in the novel with the character." This is very true. Writing that doesn't do this is just words on paper. The author must draw you in and "paint the picture" so you can visualize it. I also do the same process as you. I think about what each paragraph is going to be about and then I work from there.
ReplyDelete