What Is Quality Writing? - Comments

Content trumps quality most definitely...to an extent. I'll be honest, if I read a story that's amazing plot wise, but the the writing is just not to my taste, I wouldn't be able to read on, no matter how much I want to.

If I read a story that's not amazingly written, but there's just something about it that keeps me hanging on, I'll enjoy reading it. I don't think stories need to be written perfectly. Everybody makes mistakes, and poor grammar, should not be the reason you don't read a story that interests you.

Reading is a personal experience. We have our own personal reasons for liking, or disliking, what we do, and we can't always control it. I think for most people though, they would rather an amazing plot and mediocre writing, then a perfectly written story with a lacklustre plot. Captivating your audience is the key, as JK Rowling proved. Writing can improve over time, the ability is come up with good stories and get them across to your audience is a little harder to learn.

The beautiful thing about writing is that there isn't one "correct" way to do it. Writing is sort of akin to an open ocean. There are multiple ways someone can write and multiple different styles to be written in - some of which do utilize 'bad' grammar to its strength. Writing is meant to be free and people should be able to write how - and what - as they see fit.

Yes, content is important to a story. Yes, quality is important to a story. They are both important and must be kept in mind. Often times, we prioritize one over the other and forget a key aspect which is balance. Your story could be written as a grammar masterpiece but if the content is boring, no one is going to care how amazing your grammar is or how big of words you can use. However, if your story is so grammatically incorrect that it's unreadable then no one is going to care about your story's content because they can't read it anyway. Balance. And it's important for writers to find a balance that works for them because not every writer writes the same.

English classes, at least in America, are a double-edged sword. They do teach students much needed skills about the English language and how to write. However, they also encourage students to become robots. Censorship is encouraged and we're told not to think outside the box. It takes away the meaning of writing when we attempt to make everyone write in the same manner and same way.

Content should not be over quality.
Quality should not be over content.
The two should find an equal and shared balance in writing.

I can handle mistakes in stories, I make them myself. I just gloss over it or point it out (if it's online). But if a story isnt interesting, then I can't even be bothered to try.

I agree to a certain extent. But I do think that the English lessons in school are extremely useful and do have a basis in peoples' writing and that having good grammar and spelling plays a role in being a respectable author. It is kind of like that support for a building, the ground work. By learning language, you learn different ways to use it and work around it. And you're able to choose from different approaches to take on a story. If that makes any sense? Though I do believe that content and the plot line and all of the emotional aspects play a big part in captivating an audience, I still think that it is important to hold onto language and quality of your work as a writer. Because it will make things easier in the end.

This shouldn't even be a question... Of course the emotional value and passion put into a piece of writing is more important than proper grammar and all those English class rules. I wouldn't really want to know anyone who thinks any differently.

I think at the heart of it, the content is what we look for. We want stories that will interest us. But what that is varies from person to person.

Quality, though, does play a role. Are the characters developed well enough to feel real? Is the plot paced well? Are the scenes described in a way that makes them feel real, even if they are completely fantastical? Those all fall under the umbrella of quality, in my eyes.

I absolutely agree that the grammar is not the ultimate decider of whether a story is good or interesting. It's important, because poor grammar is very distracting no matter how good a story is. But good grammar or "educated" writing (not sure what that would even mean--high vocabulary, maybe?) is not enough to make a story interesting if the other things I mentioned are absent.

I also feel, though, like sheer content--an interesting story line and interesting characters--will fall flat unless those characters are also dynamic and that plot is written in a way that keeps up suspense.

Then again, dynamic characters and pacing and organization will fall flat without interesting content. But dynamic characters and pacing and organization and all those "quality" type things are going to be necessary no matter what the content is; whether the content is interesting is going to depend entirely upon who the reader is so that is a lot more fluid.