Jan 13 2011
When Is Your Writing Good Enough? Pt. 1
Back when I posted “Mystory,” fellow self-published author Natalie Wickham asked a fantastic question in response. Here’s her comment:
Here is a question that might make for an interesting discussion. How do *you* know when your writing is good? I have received so many articles for editing that I look at and think, “Really? Do you really think this is well-written?” I suppose that’s why they have whole courses on how to become a good writer, but I just wonder if there are some key things that a writer could ask himself to objectively evaluate the quality of his writing. Do you have any specific questions you ask yourself? Or is it more intuitive for you?
As a writing coach, I’ve often found myself stepping in for parents who just aren’t confident in marking their children’s writing. The reason for that is that unlike math or even history or science, writing isn’t just a study; it’s an art and a craft. That means that any assessment of writing is going to rely on a certain amount of subjectivity–that is, we like some writing because we like it and dislike other writing because we dislike it. And you can’t get much more scientific than that!
With that being understood, it’s nevertheless true that some writing is objectively–well, if not “bad,” at least not very good. Almost anyone with the exception of the writer’s mother would agree. This usually means that the writer just doesn’t have the grasp of language or of basic writing techniques needed to craft good writing.
The tricky thing is that it’s almost impossible for us to be objective about our own writing, at least for the first good while after we’ve written it. And yes, this is true for me too.
Natalie asked, then, how I know when my own writing is good. The simple answer is that (a) I train my ear and (b) I use several objective yardsticks, including knowledge of technique, the opinions of other readers, and most importantly, the willingness of third parties to publish what I write :).
I can go into a lot more detail on that, so I think I will. Stick around for follow-up posts! And keep the questions coming.
Yay! Thanks for taking the time to consider this topic, Rachel. I can’t wait to read your thoughts and suggestions!
You’re welcome, Natalie! Thanks for giving me a great topic to discuss. I hope you’ll weigh in with your own thoughts and experiences.
I am so very interested. There is the opposite side of the coin, too: sometimes we doubt writing that really is good and should go forth. Thanks for taking on this topic!
Hello. I haven’t read this post yet, but I’m in a hurry and I want to read it so I’ll take it with me and read it at home. :D
I was just wondering if you would be willing to do an interview with me for my blog. I’m discussing the great publishing debate for Christian fiction… traditional publishing vs. self publishing. I just thought it would be interesting to see what your points on the subject were, especially since you are a christian author who self published and seems to be thriving! Plus I’m liking your writing so far, and I enjoy reading your blog.
Anyway, that’s just a thought. If you would like to, you can email me your answer at: silverdreams3@gmail.com or come over to visit my blog and leave a comment or something at http://www.theravenquill.com. Thanks!
Nichole
PS, I haven’t posted the post about the great publishing debate yet, but it will be coming up in the next couple of days. :)
I’m definitely interested in what you say about being a good writer! I’m planning on subscribing to your blog.
However, there is one comment you make, in passing, with which I would disagree: “The reason for that is that unlike math or even history or science, writing isn’t just a study; it’s an art and a craft.” I’m a mathematician. Every once in a while, people ask me what it takes to be a good mathematician. I always instantly respond that the most important tool a mathematician can possess is a good imagination. Math is not primarily about formulas, rules, equations, and procedures, although those are certainly important. Math is about discerning numerical patterns around us. It’s a way of thinking. There’s plenty of art and craft in math and science.
When I’m trying to write a proof of something, all the rules about good writing apply. This is, perhaps, one reason why we have such trouble attracting people into the fields of math and science (science suffers from the same defect): the writing is absolutely atrocious. There are no standard literary techniques used, no attempt to draw the reader in with allegories, tropes, metaphors, alliteration, or any other interesting literary devices. Everyone has decided that the best way to write math and science is to use the passive voice exclusively (no one ever actually did an experiment; it just happened!) in order to eliminate personal subjects of sentences and impose on the reader the idea that science is completely unbiased. All of this is ridiculous, of course; PEOPLE do science, not machines. And people are always biased. I can’t even read most research papers that are highly relevant to my dissertation!
I could go on and on about bad scientific writing, but N. David Mermin has already said a good bit of anything I would want to say, and he said it much better, in his book _Boojums All the Way Through_, which I would highly commend to your attention.
I’m not intending this comment to hijack the comments to your post, but, as Natalie can attest, I just had to say something!
Cheers.
Adrian,
Thanks so much for your gracious rebuke :). I would love to pick up that book. I’ve known ever since reading another book–”The Music of the Primes”–that higher mathematics really is an art form, and your point about people doing science is well taken!
For parents who are schooling elementary and high-school aged kids, though, my central point still holds true: typically, for math, parents can look in a test key and see exactly what the “right answer” should be, while parents who are trying to mark writing tend to get lost as soon as they step out of the realm of grammar.
I hope to hear more from you! Welcome to the blog :).
Lea Ann, great point. I should address that at the end of the series.
Rachel,
You are brilliant. Thank you for sharing this information!
Rachel,
Thanks for the welcome, and in turn for your gracious reply. :-)] <— smiley with beard.
I would argue that, while grading math is easier than grading English, there are still some subtleties that seem to elude many teachers.
For example: my criteria for a perfect score on a math problem has been, though I think it will probably change, the correct answer arrived at by a valid and relevant method. However, even in high school geometry, you have to grade proofs (if the course is to be worthy of the name!). How do you grade proofs? A geometry standard two-column proof might not be too bad (though you'd still have to keep your head!), but when you get into undergraduate-level analysis or algebra proofs, there can be very subtle things going on that you have to take into account.
Moreover, there's always the question of presentation, or rhetoric. I firmly believe in the importance of good rhetoric when presenting scientific or mathematical results. Case in point: the Challenger disaster. The engineers knew ahead-of-time that there was a problem with the O-rings, but their PowerPoint presentation that had this information was hopelessly cluttered and dense to be point of illegibility. In addition, the engineers were not aware that they had a "hostile audience", when they tried to explain this problem to their superiors. Said superiors had already delayed the launch several times, and were not interested in doing so again. So you see, in this situation, it was not enough to have the facts: you had to present them well, and convincingly.
Which is what you're all about here.
Cheers.
Well said, Adrian. I was going to try to follow you with a clever reply, but you’re a hard act to follow :). It’s great to have your perspective, and I hope we’ll be hearing more from you!