Of course, I believe good writing is much more than that.
In my opinion, an essay that is defined as “good writing” should lack any grammatical flaws. I stated this first in my definition because I feel grammar and punctuation are the backbone behind good writing. I feel this way because the reader is going to instantly ignore an author’s intelligence if they are misspelling words, and incorrectly using commas. I’m sure that some people have written great papers, but have received horrible grades because of poor grammar. This is why grammar and punctuation are very important parts of my good writing definition.
Although, a good piece of writing does take far more than just perfect grammar and punctuation.
Personally, when I’m reading any piece of literature; I look for it to grab my attention. I like for each sentence to make me want to read the next one. Good writing should always interest the reader enough to make them want to continue reading. A perfect example of this is the opening paragraph to A Million Little Pieces (Frey); a book written by James Frey. Mr. Frey grabs your attention so efficiently in the given paragraph that it is almost impossible not to flip to the second page. After good writing has grabbed my attention; I should be able to read that paper, and understand the logic behind what the writer was thinking. A good piece of writing will never leave the reader confused, because good writing is always structured so that the reader is guided through the text as easily as possible. The last and largest part of my definition of good writing is that a point has to be made. A good piece of writing should always have a strong focus on the topic. By focus I mean that a point should be recognized in your writing. Good writing will always make a point in the first paragraph, while the following paragraphs will support and develop the established topic.
These are all things that I continuously attempt to incorporate into my writing. I don’t think that I have perfected them, or reached the level of a good writer. On the other hand, I feel that James Frey has mastered the art of being a good writer. In the example I gave, he integrated all the elements that I think make a great paper. Although I’m not on Mr. Frey’s level of writing; I consider myself a decent writer. I do feel if I continue to include all the things that I think a good paper requires; I will soon be able to consider my own writing, “good”.
Work Cited
Frey, James. A Million Little Pieces. 2003. Google. 10 April 2009
I think that we have similar views on what good writing is. Probably because we were in the same group and collaborated on our manifesto. I agree that the reader should be able to flow effortlessly through the paragraph and understand it easily.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that a paper should be free of most grammatical errors; I do not think this is what a major componet of good writting. I just wanted to leave an example of a peice of literature that is realy bad in grammar but is know very well. "Of Mice and Men, you might have read it, has countless grammar issues to capture the dialect of the time period and yet it is considered a grade A peice of writting
ReplyDeleteI agree that grammar and spelling your words correctly is a very import part of good writing, but I also think that good writing comes from a deep emotional place. Feelings are make or break a paper, to me anyway. Although you are correct for the most part that an author’s intelligence can be severally underestimated by grammatical errors, I still think that the initial feel of the paper is key. Good points, a really good piece of work.
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