What Is Good Writing?

       For me, this question is a loaded one. There are so many aspects to writing on the surface and deeper within the art that may be judged. So I'd say everyone's definition of "good writing" would be different, with various criteria.
       The principles of good writing vary as well, but the article behind the link gives the thoughts a decent outline. They also state that "good writing" comes from practice and hard work, which I agree with; very few are born brilliant writers. We change as time goes on; we change on purpose and outside forces change us naturally as well. I personally used to loathe the idea of writing for school, whether it was creative or essay format. I had trouble sitting down to put words onto the paper, but time as changed that, and working hard on different styles of writing has also improved my attitude as well. 
       Within that article linked above, I found another one about the difference between good and bad writers. Now, I don't like to call any writer a "bad" writer- it's such a strong and solid word, like it cannot be changed- but I thought the article had some interesting quotes about the differences professional writers found between the two categories. 
  

"The Writer's Guide to Creativity"

After steering clear of Poets and Writers- a handful of classmates already chose it last week-  in the literary section of the magazine area at Barnes and Noble, I found myself looking at publications I’d never heard of. A few things caught my eye, but one in particularly got most of my focus (and not just because of its bright orange cover).

“Writer’s Digest Yearbook Presents: The Writer’s Guide to Creativity” is what I kept picking back up and thumbing through at the shelves. It made me think about everything we discuss in class; inspiration, editing, the writing process, and I was interested to see what group of articles had to say about the broad subject of “creativity”. Plus, the line boasting “Beat Writer’s Block: 90 Prompts & Exercises” didn’t hurt; I’m always looking for different, new ways to get out of writing ruts to see what will work or won’t work for me.

I wound up sitting down and reading the majority of the 100+ page magazine- I skipped the business and publication tips section, figuring that I’d start thinking about non-creative things in favor of interviews and proposals. There were serveral interesting reads and various interesting ideas. The prompts were fresh, things I couldn’t have just thought of off the top of my head but was glad they did and shared with me. I found it great that they could come up with prompts that involved technology and things I do/look out on a daily basis: “Open your email and randomly choose the subject line of a message. Make that the first line of your story. Then, choose another sujbect line, and make that the last line of your story”, or, “Take two of your favorite songs, and match up a line from the chorus of one with a line from the chorus of the other. Then, write a scene that starts with the first lyric, and ends with the second”. I love the creativity in those ideas, how they push the notion that inspiration can come from anywhere and sometimes we have to get it going by searching for it in random ways.

And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg in the magazine when it comes to new suggestions. They adress setting, voice, editing, locations in which to write, sketching character ideas, dialogue and flowing it in an interesting and realistic way, conveying details and images, word choice, and point of view. After reading this, I walked away with a lot of new thoughts and ideas; both about the writing process and inspiration and useful prompts that could get my creativity flowing.

                Once I was done, I found myself at the Writer's Digest website and sifting through articles they publish there and found one on creating compelling characters It had interesting things to keep in mind when molding characters and thinking about their traits, amibitions, secrets, and vulnerablilities. They suggested looking at real people we know: a family member you are close to, a family member you particularly dislike, a childhood friend you've lost touch with, or a stranger you've crossed paths with in the last week. I feel like all of these are great starting points for character ideas or inpsirations for stories.