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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Does Good Writing Matter?
Today on Murderati, I ask the question: In a world where TWILIGHT and THE DAVINCI CODE become best-sellers, does good writing even matter? I'd love to hear your thoughts....
My first impulse to say No, but that's too glib. It ultimately comes down to what you want to accomplish as a writer. If you want to be a well-paid hack, come up with a sell-able hook. The craft is secondary at best. That's not just a phenomenon of the literary world, though. The same applies to movies, music, TV, theater, etc etc etc. Fluff rises to the top, and it always will. But there's always good stuff out there, and always good reason to create quality work.
I think good writing matters, but good writing is a strange animal.
I decided to re-read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Donaldson is an okay writer but he *never* uses a two-bit word when there's a five dollar word that means the same thing. Is that a *bad* thing? I dunno. I don't think it's a *good* thing. No one is "tired"; they're in a state of hebetude. No one eats; they take in aliment. And if they don't get aliment in too long, they're suffering from inanation.
Some people praise him as a good writer, and he's okay, but I find it weird to read pulp fiction that needlessly sends me to a dictionary every 10 pages or less. (Not that I dislike learning new vocabulary, mind you.)
I wanted to revisit this. Does good writing matter?
It depends on what you want. Competent writing matters - incompetent writing won't sell. (I'm using circular logic here, of course, but it applies - the job of a writer is to sell, and even if someone thinks the writing is incompetent, it's not - not if it earns a sale.)
Merely competent writing is enough if *all* you want to do is sell. But if you want people to remember you, or, more appropriately, "remember that scene where...." then *good* writing matters, because it's only good writing that makes it memorable - that makes it real enough to make it memorable.
7 comments:
I would hate to think that it didn't matter because why else would anyone bother to improve their craft?
Also, I don't see either Brown or Meyers winning the Pen Faulkner award.
I think good writing must be combined with a great plot. Luck never hurt, either.
My first impulse to say No, but that's too glib. It ultimately comes down to what you want to accomplish as a writer. If you want to be a well-paid hack, come up with a sell-able hook. The craft is secondary at best. That's not just a phenomenon of the literary world, though. The same applies to movies, music, TV, theater, etc etc etc. Fluff rises to the top, and it always will. But there's always good stuff out there, and always good reason to create quality work.
“[I]t’s literary fiction, but don't worry, stuff actually happens.”
That's great!!!
Nathan, as always, nails the answer.
It matters to me.
I think good writing matters, but good writing is a strange animal.
I decided to re-read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Donaldson is an okay writer but he *never* uses a two-bit word when there's a five dollar word that means the same thing. Is that a *bad* thing? I dunno. I don't think it's a *good* thing. No one is "tired"; they're in a state of hebetude. No one eats; they take in aliment. And if they don't get aliment in too long, they're suffering from inanation.
Some people praise him as a good writer, and he's okay, but I find it weird to read pulp fiction that needlessly sends me to a dictionary every 10 pages or less. (Not that I dislike learning new vocabulary, mind you.)
I wanted to revisit this. Does good writing matter?
It depends on what you want. Competent writing matters - incompetent writing won't sell. (I'm using circular logic here, of course, but it applies - the job of a writer is to sell, and even if someone thinks the writing is incompetent, it's not - not if it earns a sale.)
Merely competent writing is enough if *all* you want to do is sell. But if you want people to remember you, or, more appropriately, "remember that scene where...." then *good* writing matters, because it's only good writing that makes it memorable - that makes it real enough to make it memorable.
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