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Mary Marsh Intro to College Writing Dr. Vanderslice September 20, 2011

Good Writing Moves A Multitude

Good writing is a concept that can and will be debated forever, but, in my opinion, good writing is common sense. According to Vida, 288,355 books were published in the United States in 2009. I personally think it would be naïve to believe that all of these books were good writing. Therefore, my definition of good writing is writing that can intrigue the mind of almost any audience or reader. Good writing is not every book you’re forced to read in school nor is it every book someone you know is interested in. Pieces of writing that can be read, understood, and enjoyed universally; those are good writing. When I was younger this was not my definition of good writing. My teachers taught me that anything published and on the shelf was a piece of good writing. In turn, I thought that my writing wasn’t good because it wasn’t published for everyone to read. Teachers tried to tell me in Junior High and High School that every novel required on their reading list was good writing because we studied it. I obviously learned that their words weren’t exactly true. Then to contradict, my parents taught me that everything I wrote was good writing. This of course was never the case because things I wrote when I was eight years old weren’t published, enjoyed, and understood universally. Now, I have the definition I mentioned earlier. I’m not quite sure what brought me to this definition, but I guess it was my eleventh grade English teacher, Mr. Burnham. He wasn’t like any teacher that I had before. He was honestly pretty closed-minded and half the things that he made us read he did not believe were actually good writing. However, he did believe knowledge of a variety of writing was necessary. My concept of writing isn’t necessarily word for word the same as his concept was, but it was developed off of his. His concept was more that you know good writing when it moves a person. My argument was not that you know good writing when it moves a person, but that you know good writing when it moves a multitude. Writers in the recent chapters we have read have somewhat challenged my concept. Everyone has their different views, but many of the writers agreed that what was good enough to be published was good writing. Calling a famous writer naïve might be going a little far, but going with a general consensus on whether a piece of writing is good writing is also going a little far. The others were quite self-motivating and agreed that whatever you put your heart and feelings into was good writing regardless of whether anyone else agrees. Universally the greatest books through the ages are those stories that each new generation could still relate to. It is here that readers are able to find universal truths that readers can relate to day-to-day. It is here when the author captures his audience with such a direction that the reader is moved to study the novel, or even to look into the authors other works. Even though generations are still reading classics of the past; such as, __The Scarlet Letter__, __A Tale of Two Cities__, or even such as __The Jungle__. Is it fair though to ask why, to question what it is about these works that they have been read time and time again? Even though the dialect is centuries of years old, and the characters are nothing of the same as society would see them today. No, it that can’t be what good writing is. Although some of these novels that we are encouraged to study in depth are. Good writing is when the author is able to perceive life on a different level. These good writers are those who practically invented archetypes. Archetypes are able to capture these universal truths that generations will all be able to accept and see these truths for years to come. Readers are able to take many things from good writings. Not just one universal moral or one good story to tell. Good writing truly connects the readers to the piece of writing. Good writing isn’t just good writing for the time being. Good writing will forever be good writing. In reading __Writing About Writing__ at certain points I felt like my view might be considered that of a harsh critic or someone who is closed off from anything that doesn’t interest my views. This to some degree may be true. I caught myself laughing out loud at some of the strategies these writers claimed to use. Writing in your underwear just as John Cheever did, writing standing up as Hemingway did, and leaning over a refrigerator while writing is not a way to make you a good writer. I strongly believe that was written for the purpose of making me laugh when I read it. There is no way on earth these silly things actually help. I honestly think they’re just distractions. On the other hand, some of the authors had valid points when discussing what could potentially be good writing or how to potentially develop good writing. The best advice I heard was from Allegra Goodman she suggested forgetting the past and not letting anything stop the creative juice that help you develop that writing. I also loved Stephen King’s words “it’s writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously we can do business”. My concept of good writing was definitely challenged in this collection of essays. I didn’t really waiver too much but it was challenged. What I did notice while reading these works was that shockingly enough no one really had the same view as me. That being quite contradictory of the fact that I said that my concept of good writing was common sense. After reading these essays I do have a better knowledge on how some of the authors produce their novels, on how so many people fail and fail and fail at writing a simple novel, on the fact that just about everyone has a “shitty first draft”, and on how some of the writers in this world have the oddest quirks that I’ve ever heard of. In conclusion, good writing is common sense and universal although the book __Writing About Writing__ doesn’t completely agree with this.