Odds and Ends about Writing

Thoughts On "What Makes Bad Writing Bad"

Hey everyone! I read an article in the Guardian today (though it was published on Friday) called "What Makes Bad Writing Bad" (You can find it here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/20/what-makes-bad-writing-bad-toby-litt - I hope it's ok to add links!) Anyway, I thought it was an interesting piece, even though a lot of people seem to disagree with it, and I wanted to add my thoughts:

Italics = Quote

Non-italics - My Thoughts

"Bad writing is almost always a love poem addressed by the self to the self."

I agree with this. Like, out of all the people who's works I've read, the most arrogant once tended to write the worst (in my subjective opinion). They also tended to be the type for whom the request for feedback meant "praise me".

But if I go down the feedback response route, this is gonna turn into a very different ramble. Let's just say that the experiences in any feedback horror thread have one thing in common.

"Bad writing is written defensively; good writing is a way of making the self as vulnerable as possible."

Ok, for this point, you can probably see examples of it everywhere, including most blogs and Wattpad. The people with the 'best', let's say blogs (because this is where you can be really personal), are often the ones that are the most honest. 

On the other hand, if someone writes defensively, it shows. People can always sense when you're trying to protect yourself, and I think that wall stops the writing from connecting with the reader.

"[B]ad writers often write in order to forward a cause or enlarge other people's understanding of a contemporary social issue."

And this is why I'm not a fan of message fiction. Even if I agree with your message, the fact that you're trying to ram it down my throat makes me instinctively disagree with you in most cases.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule (which I thought of right after I wrote the above :p). Parables, done well, are a form of message fiction that I enjoy reading. Of course, most of them are also short, which might play a big part in this. Also, books like Animal Farm also sort of negate the point, since people clearly have enjoyed them (though... not me. I sneak-read my cousin's copy and wasn't impressed)

"Bad writers often believe they have very little left to learn, and that it is the literary world's fault that they have not yet been recognised, published, lauded and laurelled."

Ok, this is practically a restatement of the first quote, but I liked it so here it is. Basically, arrogance in writing makes your writing hard to read (unless you're supremely good at hiding your feelings).

I also think that good writing cannot come from a place of destructiveness, like hate, but other people disagree with me, so... Proof of Your Mileage May Vary.

To be honest, I'm not sure why this article got so much pushback from readers. Apparently it's because it someone instinctively puts literary fiction above genre fiction, but I didn't really see that. I didn't really get the "this writing is bad writing" charge too.

Oh well, you can always read the article and make up your minds.