Word meaning good writer

good writer — перевод на русский

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Ever since I wrote the post on Qualities of a Professional Freelance Writer, I have received quite a few e-mails asking me to write one on qualities of a good writer. That is, a writer in general, not of any specific genre. So, here it is.

True, anyone can write, but that doesn’t make him/her a writer, leave alone a good writer. In order to be called a good writer, certain qualities are required.  To me, the qualities most essential in good writer are:

1.  Love of writing. This is the most important factor. Unless there is the love and passion for writing, one can never produce a good piece. The more intense the passion, the better the writing is.

2. Love of words. This is not the same as the love of writing. Love of words means having a good vocabulary and understanding not only their meanings, but also the correct usage of words and their connotations. It is this love of words that makes a writer select the right words, and it is this choice of words that make the impact on the readers.

3. Good grammar and punctuation skills. This is an obvious one. We all know how bad grammar can leave a bad impression and how incorrect punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence.

4. Imagination. This is another important quality. What and how can a writer write if there is no imagination? Even a non-fiction writer needs imagination to make his/her writing lucid.

5. Observation. Good writers have a knack of observing people and things, and then mentally storing these observations to reproduce later in their writings.

6.  Self-motivation. We all go through periods of difficulties and mental blocks. A good writer never waits for someone else to come inspire him/her. He/she is able to motivate himself/herself, is always confident and is able to come up with ideas.

7. Professionalism. A good writer always has a professional approach to writing. This means that that a writer should always take his/her work seriously and must be able to learn every aspect of writing. He/she must be able to understand the market and offer readers material that they wish to read.

If a person has these seven essential qualities, then that person can be called a good writer. Or am I missing out on something? Is there anything else that should have been included?

Filed under: Advice, Writers | Tagged: Advice, linkedin, qualities, Writers, writing |

Whenever I teach people the art of writing, they want to know what skills or qualities they need to possess to write well. It is usually a difficult task, but I have tried to aggregate some of the qualities that will make one a good writer.

According to popular writer, editor and literary critic, William Zinsser, “Good writing doesn’t come naturally, though most people seem to think it does.” This is one point about writing that many people do not realise. Many assume that once a known writer picks up a pen or hits the keyboard, wonderful writing springs out ceaselessly. Zinnser throws more light on this issue thus: “Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s hard because it is hard.”

Everybody can write, but not everybody can write in a way that will excite and interest the reader to read from the beginning to the end and take positive action, as expected by the writer. In this era of the Internet when the attention span of people is short, and there are hundreds of materials demanding the attention of the reader, a writer has to do something different to get the attention of the reader and retain it.

1. Every good writer is a good reader. Good writing does not just happen overnight. What the good writer does is to unconsciously regurgitate all the writings and styles of the good writers he or she has read over the years. If you hate to read, please don’t bother to dream about being a good writer.

2. Like Friedrich Nietzsche says, good writers “would rather be understood than admired.” The most popular African book on fiction is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Achebe wrote it when nobody knew him. He was not a professor of literature then, he was just a university student at Ibadan. He just wrote passionately about something that touched him deeply. He did not write to dazzle or prove that he was well-read. The result was that Things Fall Apart became a global classic.

Most times, the more educated we are, the less impactful our writing becomes, because we tend to write more to prove that we are “too much” than to be understood. Our writing, therefore, loses some originality and natural connection with the reader. The more educated we are, the better literary critics we become but the less good writers we become. In summary: good writers write to express, not to impress. Please note this.

3. Creativity is a trait every good writer has. Good writers task themselves to bring out new ideas or present old or common things in new and exciting ways. They choose words that convey their thoughts best. A lazy writer will use “lovely” to describe a lady, a car, a dress, a baby, a voice, a house, and a handwriting. But a good writer will say “a charming lady”, “a sleek car”, “a stylish dress”, “a cute baby”, “an angelic voice”, “an exquisite house”, and “an artistic handwriting.” These words create better mind images than using “lovely” for all of them.

4. Good writers are passionate about the correctness of grammar. They have a love relationship with their dictionary – regularly confirming the meaning and usage of words. This is because good writers do not want to spread bad grammar all over the world. Bad grammar is a turn-off in communication. Note that wherever you see the department of English in a tertiary institution, you also see literature. Language is the channel through which literature is communicated. The same thing goes for Hausa and Hausa literature, Yoruba and Yoruba literature, Igbo and Igbo literature, etc. When you read the works of a great writer, you will learn correct grammar.

5. Good writers strive for perfection. Is perfection possible? No. Our duty is to continue to strive to be perfect. When we strive for perfection, we achieve excellence. Excellence is praised and rewarded by the world.

By striving for perfection, we mean that good writers are never happy with their work. They keep fine-tuning it, looking for more appropriate words and expressions to use in every sentence. Good writers do not have the it-doesn’t-matter mentality. This mindset makes people assume that anyhow something is done is okay. This works against good writing.

Good writers are not in a hurry to post or publish their works. They pay attention to details. They take their time to check both the correctness of every word or phrase and the appropriateness of every expression in the write-up. This may take days, weeks, months or years, depending on the type of writing involved. Writers are not praised or given prizes for finishing first; they are praised or given prizes for writing well. They are loved for writing well; they are talked about for writing well; they are quoted for writing well.

6. A good writer must have good research skills. A good writer should know the subject of discussion deeply, have a thorough understanding of the target audience, write relevant, quality content that has a logical flow of events and still grabs the audience’ attention.

7. Good writers are unique – that makes people want to read them. They create their own style. By unconsciously combining an amalgam of styles, good writers create a unique style that interests their readers.

8. Good writers avoid clichés or trite and worn-out expressions. They avoid those expressions that people use regularly like “political quagmire,” “all and sundry”, “pay lip service to”, “met his Waterloo”, “easier said than done”, “neither here nor there”, “think outside the box”, etc. Use of clichés shows a writer that is not creative, a writer that is lazy, a writer that does not like to think. When a cliché comes out newly, it is exciting. But when everybody starts using it, try to avoid it as much as possible.

9. Mind pictures are great tools good writers use to enthral readers. Good writers use words to create mind pictures. Good writers make their readers to visualise what they are reading. Example: “Tears streamed down her face” is more exciting than “tears flowed down her face”. Such picturesque expressions create more impact. Good writers send words on errands.

10. Good writers give the necessary information. There is a reason for every piece of writing. A good writer ensures that the reader gets all the necessary information in as few words as possible.

11. Good writers entertain while educating. A piece of writing should not be bland and colourless. While passing the information across, a good writer ensures that the reader is taken through some unforgettable journey. This entertainment may include the use of humour, fable, satire, irony, etc.

12. Before boredom sets in, good writers end their writing. And they end on a memorable note. There are some write-ups you read and complain: “Is this not the last paragraph?” A good writer does not wait for the reader to get to that state before ending the write-up. The reader needs to ask for more at the end of the write-up, not heave a sigh of relief.

Finally, a good writer is made, not created!  Therefore, everyone can be a good writer. However, this is a personal choice that must be backed up with action.

— Twitter @BrandAzuka

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Narrative skills

Telling a story

The best writers have the ability to create a story that people want to read – it’s that simple. Whether you’re writing about cars or politicians or life-changing moments or an imaginary forest filled with dancing foxes, if you can tell your story in a way that makes your reader want to fall into the world you’ve created and find out what happens next, you’re doing something very, very right.

Believing in the story you are telling

If you aren’t convinced by your characters and the story you’re telling, why should anyone else be? The best writing is writing that rings true. That doesn’t mean it has to be based in actual fact, but that it has to carry a sense of conviction. If you’re merely going through the motions, and not fully invested in your story, how can you expect it to have an emotional resonance for the reader?

Making a connection with readers

Remembering the reader is a key skill for writers. If you can reach out to a reader, fire their imagination and make them feel that they are emotionally invested in the story you are telling – that they want to know what happens – you have achieved the storyteller’s biggest ambition: to write something that becomes a part of their readers’ lives.

Entertaining their readers

Good writers always remember that readers could be doing a million other things with their precious time than reading your writing. They could be watching movies, or spending time with their families, or cooking, or socialising, or playing sport, or sleeping. Instead, they have chosen to spend their precious time in a world you have created, in the hope that your words will take them out of their everyday lives. They want to be beguiled and entertained, and we should never forget this, and work hard at satisfying our readers.

Making people see things a new way

Really good writing, like all good art, makes people see the world in a slightly different way – the way the writer has conveyed it in their work. The ability to make your readers look at something and understand it from a new perspective is why writing can be one of the most powerful ways of increasing human understanding.

Having a unique voice

The writers that stand out don’t write like other writers. They write like themselves. Think of your favourite writers. Stephen King doesn’t write like anybody else, he writes like Stephen King. Think of some of the writers you’ve read about in Writing Magazine. Sebastian Faulks writes like Sebastian Faulks. Kei Miller writes like Kei Miller. Dorothy Koomson writes like Dorothy Koomson. Nikesh Shukla writes like Nikesh Shukla. The best writers aren’t pale imitations of successful writers, they are writers who write in their own voice.

Being imaginative

Who wants to read a boring writer? Memorable writers have the ability to create an imaginative landscape that readers want to explore and people it with characters that their readers will want to spend time with. And remember that the finest writers use language in an imaginative way, so that readers can find unexpected pleasures in the way words are put together and used.

Taking risks

Great writers understand that readers want to come along for the ride. And if you get your readers on side, there is nowhere they won’t travel with you. So give them an exciting journey! Put yourself in their place – would you rather have a safe, boring, plodding ride/read, or one that took you to places you didn’t know existed?

QUICK LINK Do you want to know the seven secrets of a successful writer? You can find them here

Technical skills

Involving the reader

Remembering your reader is vital. Unless you are writing purely for yourself, successful writers are always aware that what they are writing will be read by a reader, and that reader needs to be able to follow your narrative, believe in your characters and invest in the story you are unfolding for them.

Being good with words

Words are a writer’s basic tools, and writers need to be highly proficient in their use. Would you trust a mechanic who didn’t know how to use a spanner? Then why would you trust a writer who couldn’t construct a decent sentence? Good writers not only have a natural facility with words, but they should enjoy using them and take pleasure in the language they use to communicate their ideas.

Using the right words

Skilled writers use the appropriate language for what they are writing. They do not use big words just to show off that they know what they mean. The best writers use clear, concise language that gets their message across, and they never sound as if they had eaten the dictionary and spat out its most indigestible adjectives.

Finding your voice

Good writers write in their own style, and finding it is one of the aims of all writers. You may have to experiment with different styles to find what your writing voice really is, but it’s time well spent when you realise that now you are writing in your own unique voice – one that readers will recognise as being yours.

Plotting

Proficient writers understand that whatever it is they’re writing, it needs to have a strong storyline and a trajectory that gets its reader from the beginning to the end. Think of your writing in terms of what happens when, and to who, and it’s worth spending time working out what your main plot incidents are and the order in which you need to put them to make your plot as satisfying as possible for your reader.

Structuring and pacing

Good writing needs bones, ie structure. This involves the writer in creating tension, contrast, light and shade. It needs its writer to know where to place dramatic incidents, and when not to reveal too much too soon. Its writer needs to know when to reveal things to the reader, how to sow the seeds of a twist ending, how to use foreshadowing. A good writer will vary their pace and make sure that even their sentences are not always the same length or the same structure.

Dialogue

One way you can always spot an accomplished author is that the dialogue their characters use rings true. They don’t use dialogue as an info-dump (‘But Sir Charles, the reason Lady LeStrange acts the way she does is because she was dropped on her head when she was a baby’) but as a way of revealing their characters – because good writers understand that readers will be more likely to be invested in their writing if they are involved with their characters.

The ability to write good beginnings. And endings. And middles.

Paying attention to every aspect of their manuscript is what skilful writers do automatically. Of course they need to write a good opening, in order to hook their reader. The middle needs to be a satisfying narrative so the reader doesn’t lose interest. The ending needs to be an effective resolution so the reader feels their reading time is an investment that has paid off. Basically, a good writer takes care of everything.

Grammar and spelling

Writers want their readers to concentrate on their writing, not look for mistakes in it, or stop mid-way through a paragraph to try to make sense of the grammar. Grammar and spelling are invisible in good writing, meaning that the reader doesn’t notice them – readers only notice things like that when they are used wrongly, which makes them stick out.

Understanding the market

Astute writers understand their readers, which on a broader level means understanding the market and its conventions. If you are writing cosy crime, you will do well to understand the genre and its readers and platforms, and the same goes for YA, literary fiction, experimental poetry or long-form journalism. Doing this helps good writing to find the readers it has been written for.

QUICK LINK For more on writing technique, read Richard Skinner’s advice on how to write a novel

Personal skills

Persistence

No-one ever said this writing game was easy, and successful writers are often the ones who didn’t give up at the first hurdle. Or the second, or the third. Good writers are the ones who keep on going even when its tough. It may be a writing cliché that the difference between an unpublished writer and a published one is persistence, but it’s true.

Commitment

Writing is like any other skill: it takes practice. The best writers are committed to their writing. They put the hours in. They make time for it. They work at honing their writing so that it’s the best it can be. They show it the love and care it deserves. Good writers realise that just as in any successful relationship, their writing will respond well to being nurtured.

Resilience

Every writer’s work gets rejected at some point, and there may be times when even the most brilliant writer in the world feels like throwing the towel in. This is where believing in your work comes in. Writers who do that are committed to writing the best piece of work they can. Sometimes other people may not agree, and they may be the editors, agents and publishers who turn your work down. Good writers understand that you learn what you can from the down times, and keep going.

QUICK LINK Need some more top tips? How about 18 ways to be a better writer?

Essential skills

Love of reading

Good writers read. They read a lot. They read voraciously, and they read indiscriminately. They read books they know they will love, and they read books they might hate. They learn something from all of them, and they know that all that reading will make them into a better writer.

Love of writing

How often have you met a really good writer who tells you they hate writing? If you don’t enjoy writing, how do you expect to be any good at it? Good writers love writing. Writing may be hard sometimes, and there is always something new to learn, but good writers should always be able to get back to the joy and pleasure that writing offers them.

QUICK LINK Why not get your creative mojo going and start writing for fun with these quick creative writing exercises

Things involving no skill at all

Talent

So you were born with an imagination, a way with words and the ability to tell a story. That’s fantastic, and something to be proud of. But so were lots of other writers – pretty much all of them, in fact. With all that in place, you’re potentially a good writer, and now you need to put the work in and produce some top-notch writing so all that talent doesn’t go to waste.

Luck

You can’t bank on winning the lottery, and neither can you bank on your brilliant idea turning into a bestseller or getting the film rights sold. Good writers tend to believe that you make a lot of your own luck, by writing the best you can and remembering that writing is a reward in itself. And we wish you all the luck in the world – happy writing.

QUICK LINK Read this inspiring account of how one writer made her own luck by signing up for a Writing Magazine Creative Writing Course

So why not start ticking off your checklist of skills today by trying a copy of Writing Magazine and enjoy free delivery? It’s packed full of writing inspiration, useful tips, competitions to win cash prizes and opportunities to get published. 

Your reply contradicts itself, but I agree with the spirit of it in a way.

You say you’re a good writer when you’re able to convey what’s in your head. Then you say it’s up to the writer to decide whether they’re a good writer. At the most basic level, writing is giving form to thought so you can communicate it over time and distance (beyond the sound of your voice). So the yardstick is really if the reader is able to extract your meaning from what you wrote. You can be perfectly happy with what you’ve written, but if readers can’t understand it, it’s not good writing. Maybe not effective is a better description, but you see what I’m saying.

At the artisitc level I agree there comes a point at which you’re the only one who can decide if you’re getting down what you want in the way you want. There is such a thing as being too smart for the room, which is why so many artists are only appreciated late in their careers or after they die. However, you have to master the communications level before you can really claim to be doing this. If you haven’t, you’re probably just having some kind of confirmation bias about how good you are.

For example, my current WIP has a couple of chapters in which the main character is psychically tuning into other events while carrying on coversations with people. I go back and forth between what he’s living and what he’s tuning into and slip in mistakes and collisions to show how this psychic ability is messing with his head. I think I can get it to the point at which the reader will be able to follow it and get from it what I want them to, which is that it’s confusing and he’s confused about how well he can handle it. I could be very mistaken however. I could just confuse the hell out of the reader. This is why we have editors, and why you have to be able to flip the switch from artist to professional author when an editor tells you something isn’t working. Well, if you want to get published you have to. If you’re just writing for yourself or are willing to let your genius be discovered post-mortem, then you can always do what you want.