What is “Bad Writing?” (And How Can We Avoid It?)

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

"Bad writing" means different things to different readers.

We writers notice bad writing far more easily than readers, because we know the rules. For us, the writing is critical, but for a reader, it’s more about the story.

Readers don’t care how the sausage is made as long as it tastes good. And “good” is very subjective.

No matter what genre you write, I bet you can name a few huge, mega-bestsellers you feel are badly written. Every genre has them. And they drive us crazy as writers because “writers must write well” is drilled into our heads by everyone in the writing and publishing industry.

What Doesn’t Work? Learning from the Mistakes of Even the (gasp!) Greats

By Bonnie Randall

Part of The How They Do It Series 

JH: Some authors are bestsellers in spite of gaffs in their writing, not because of them. Bonnie Randall share a few things to avoid--even if a Big Name Author does it. 

Stephen King said “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write” and it’s true. Writers collect ribbons of prose, excellent syntax, and well-executed transitions like precious stones in a jar, for once you’re a writer you can never be ‘just’ a reader again. Your eye becomes keenly honed for what works.

It’s also honed for what stinks.

Right now I am reading a novel by someone pretty prolific and very famous, and what I enjoy about their work is the mastery of pacing and plotting.

When Fiction Doesn’t Work—What Can Be Learned?

By Bonnie Randall 

Part of the How They Do It Series 

JH: You can learn just as much from a bad book as a good book.

Stephen King said “Unless you read, you do not have the tools to write.”

Books that whisk us deeply into a story, have characters who become dear friends, or use language in such a way that leaves us breathless, are powerful tools for writers, because those elements are replicable and take our fiction to higher, deeper, and more meaningful levels.

What, though, about fiction that doesn’t move you in any sort of positive way? Can writing lessons be gleaned from these pieces also?