If you’ve been at the writing game for long, you’re aware of how different feedback, critiques and even published works’ standards can be. It’s almost amusing to watch writers critique a published book, mocking the use of “ly” words, having a laugh over clunky prose, seeing body parts moving on their own. If the object of scorn is a bestseller, all the more fun. Then we can tell ourselves that publishers only publish dreck. But if it’s a bestseller, there must be a reason it works.
Writing Tip for Today: I like to tell my students that there are only two kinds of writing: Writing that works and writing that needs work. How can you identify writing that works?
- Good Writing is Smooth. As you read, nothing bumps you out of the story. John Gardner’s “vivid and continuous dream” standard is met, and most readers aren’t required to reread sentences or ponder over meaning for too long.
- Breaking Rules in a Good Way. If the writer “breaks rules,” you don’t notice. Or the broken rules energize you as a reader and don’t detract from your experience. For instance, in The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, a line reads, “her eyes shot out the window.” This mega-bestseller wasn’t hurt by this gaffe because of the superior voice and story.
- Makes it Look Easy. Skilled authors know when to break a rule, and for how long. Beginning novelists are often told to write scenes and be careful with narrative. A more skilled writer might write long passages of narration, and just when the reader is getting restless for action, that writer throws in a scene. What looks “easy” is far more likely to be the result of lots of practice and revision. The point of knowing why writing works? To help you understand reasons why skilled authors can make their novels work despite breaking of rules. Keep practicing!
