This is a paper that I recently wrote for my new Creative Writing class. We were supposed to define ‘Seriously Great Writing’ in our own way utilizing quotes from books, poems, play scripts, etc. This is what I cam up with. Enjoy!
Seriously great writing can be defined in a number of different ways. However, before we can look at great writing, we need to look at good writing. An example of good writing is from Dorothy Must Die, “No matter how tough you think you are, there are certain things that just get to you, and they’re usually the little things. The ones you don’t expect” (Paige, 2014). I think that the best way to describe good writing is that it’s above average, but not exceeding expectations.
Great writing, however, exceeds your expectations. An example of what I believe to be great writing is from Crime and Punishment, “I used to analyze myself down to the last thread, used to compare myself with others, recalled all the smallest glances, smiles and words of those to whom I’d tried to be frank, interpreted everything in a bad light, laughed viciously at my attempts ‘to be like the rest’ –and suddenly, in the midst of my laughing, I’d give way to sadness, fall into ludicrous despondency and once again start the whole process all over again – in short, I went round and round like a squirrel on a wheel” (Dostoevsky, 1866).
Great writing should make you think. Think about different circumstances, different experiences. These could be things you have experienced before, things you wish to experience, or things you hope to never experience.
Great writing should make you feel emotions. These emotions don’t always have to be something you have never felt before, but they should be emotions that you don’t feel as often. An example of this is found in Girl in the Blue Coat, “My heart will still ache sometimes. Maybe more often than not. I think it’s possible to be healed without feeling whole” (Hesse, 2016). Grief is an emotion that we may not feel as often, and for me, this quote helps me understand how I am supposed to continue after losing someone I love.
When you are reading the author’s writing, their distinctive style should resonate with you. Great writing can best be described as any form of writing that has both style and substance, not one over the other.
Cited Works
Dostoevsky, F. (1866). Crime and Punishment. Penguin.
Hesse, M. (2016). Girl in the Blue Coat. Little Brown Books for Young Readers.Paige, D.
(2014). Dorothy Must Die. HarperCollins.