Thursday, November 4, 2010

...good or bad...

I’ve seen many bloggers say that what draws them to certain books or authors is good writing, and what causes them to stop reading a certain book or author is bad writing. What constitutes good writing and bad writing to you?

There have been a lot of times that I stop reading a book because I'm not totally sold out to the way it was written. I can't really say with absolute certainty about what constitutes good or bad writing, since I'm not in the position to do so.
 Reading something "good" can be compared to waking up to a beautiful sunrise :-) ( to me, anyway)
Based from my readings so far, what constitutes "good" writing to me is when I can't seem to put the book down. When there's this need or anticipation in me to finish at least a chapter I am currently reading or better yet, to finish the book in one sitting. I have experienced it before and it felt great. And I love the fact that I am in my own "reading" world.

Bad writing on the other hand, I guess, is when I just skim through the book and skip pages. And I can't wait to put the book down and get it over with. There were some books I've read that I can't seem to get through (or maybe it's just me).

One example, I tried reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park but did not finished it. And I don't suppose it's about bad writing. I think I just like Pride and Prejudice ( yes I finished it and "love" it) better than Mansfield Park. :-) 



3 comments:

Barbara H. said...

It's funny, I liked Mansfield Park much better that Pride and Prejudice, but I do want to read P&P again some time and see if my first impressions were wrong.

I agree that good writing pulls you in and engages you and bad writing is boring, but I had a bit of trouble expressing just what it is about each that causes that reaction.

Anonymous said...

Good writing is not boring, and peaks your interest, throughout the book.

Bad writing is when a book doesn't have substance & doesn't appeal to the reader in many ways.

La Coccinelle said...

I've read books that should've been "good", but the nuts and bolts of the writing itself were so bad that even a brilliant plot couldn't save it for me. I pay a lot of attention to the technical side of things... so if there are a lot of mistakes with grammar, spelling, or punctuation, I will probably put the book down (or give it a bad review).