Alina Rizvi
What is good writing?
To each individual person good writing can mean something different. I’ve read my fair share of both good and bad wiring. However for every piece of writing that I’ve considered good writing there has always been at least one person who disagrees. I define good writing as something that allows me to picture myself within the story. Good writing allows me to feel what the people I’m reading about feel and it also allows me to think like them.
Good writing has the power to move people emotionally whether its to take them by surprise or to make them rejoice. Either way good writing can create emotions within a person. For the most part the writing that I’ve considered to be good has had a lot of details. Without these details I wouldn’t have been able to feel the emotions that the writer was trying to create. I also wouldn’t have been able to picture myself in the characters shoes, without these details.
In my opinion good writing must also be interesting. It must be able to grab hold of the reader’s attention and keep that attention. The writer must engage the audience he/she is writing for. For example if the writing is a children’s story about bunnies then it shouldn’t include facts about the cold war. Even writings about history can be interesting but it’s up to the writers to make it interesting.
One final thing that defines good writing to me is a good title. Although were thought not to judge a book by its cover I have this habit of judging good writing by its title. A good title should be able to grab my attention from the shelf it’s sitting on. And in most cases if the title is really good and unique the chances are the writing is also very good.
These things to me are what define good writing. Many people may not agree with me on some or most of the things that make good writing but if they did then we would all be reading the same.