How do you know you're a good writer?

Hmmm--I guess I always knew I was a good story teller, or I would n'thave spent so much time in the corner for talking about made up stuff.

I knew on my last novel that it was it. It was the one. Hard to explain--as it was a feeling.

Sorry, not much help. Guess it's when others say holly cow this is good, or when a beta reader can't find anything wrong.

Shawn

Am I a good writer?

Yep, I sure am.

It's probably arrogant, but I think to get to the point where you send material to editors and agents... you have to believe totally in yourself and in your work.

So go ahead...be arrogant.

Being shy and retiring sure didn't get Stephen King where he is now.

Okay, brag time!

Let's put it this way, I have a long-lived reputation for being engaging, insightful, and clear.

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* In grade school, my ability to make milk shoot through the noses of my classmates was unprecidented.

* In high school, I was a straight A English student.

* Dropping out of college, my creative writing teacher gave me an A for her course even though I'd only shown up to three classes, and had taken no tests. She based it on what she'd seen of my work the semester before.

* As a drop-out, reading humorous-prose at coffeehouses in Chicago, I always brought down the house.

* As a web based nature-columnist (I did this on a whim, years before Blogger was invented) I had a small crowd of avid readers who would send e-mails literally begging me to write more often.

* As a maintenance man, I just received a raise purely because my work reports are the talk of the company. Apparently I really know how to tell the story of fixing a broken P-trap in 50 words or less.

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I know I can write. The only question is, can I write fiction? And the answer is, yes. All it takes is time to learn the ropes, but I will be published.

Deanna Lee said:

So go ahead...be arrogant.

Being shy and retiring sure didn't get Stephen King where he is now.

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I've been compiling a list of advice for myself as a new-ish writer. At the top of the list is "Get arrogant, stay arrogant". Stephen King and Harlan Ellison are my two role models on that one.

I'm talking about the youthful arrogance, of course. The arrogance that makes you take chances. That's the good stuff.

Probably. I don't know yet and I haven't reached the "arrogant" stage to say yes, I am. But daggummit, I'm aspirin'.

Arrogant has a bad connotation. It implies you are blind in some way. I'd say get serious, get real, be brave, and stay confident.

Coco82 said:

Is it a feeling in each and every one of us? I feel I'm a capable and adept writer, w/o sounding arrogant. Do you just know it or what. Please elaborate as much as possible.

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I'm not sure how many truly good writers would consider themselves to be truly good writers.

I think one of the factors involved in becoming a truly good writer is realizing just how difficult the job is to do well. How many hours you have to put in. How many words you have to write. And a truly good writer knows that s/he can still produce crap if s/he starts to run on automatic.

There are signs that you've become competent - one of the main ones being consistent, paid publication - but in my opinion an awful lot of writers who earn a decent living at the craft are not good writers.

There's a balance to be struck between terror and confidence, but I think any writer who is too convinced s/he is truly good is on a path that can all too easily lead to mediocrity.

I knew I was a good writer when...

I had a ms that I stuck in a drawer and forgot about, then pulled out a year later to review. I was halfway through it when I read a passage that was so well done it made me cry.

And then it occurred to me, "Holy crap, *I* wrote that!"

Seriously, I've always written. People have always told me I do it well. I'm the one that everyone calls up and says, "Okay, I have to do this presentation, tell me how this sounds," or "Help. I need an amusing anecdote about ______."

I think the best compliment I ever got was when someone was reading one of my manuscripts and called me at 3 am to tell me she hadnt been able to put it down until she was finished with it. I asked her if it was worth staying up for, and she laughed, saying, "Well, I had to call and TELL you, so yeah, it was."

Got a $500.00 grant from a publisher to inspire me to keep on keepin' on. Said I was a cross between Roald Dahl and King. Damned if that didn't make me blush and puff up a bit, no matter how exagerated the claim.

Triceratops

Dropping out of college, my creative writing teacher gave me an A...

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.

(Why did your teacher drop out of college?)

How do you know you're a good person? You just do. The rest is just validation (although it's nice to be validated).

(Why did your teacher drop out of college?)

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I inspired her to follow a more enlightened path

triceretops said:

Got a $500.00 grant from a publisher to inspire me to keep on keepin' on. Said I was a cross between Roald Dahl and King. Damned if that didn't make me blush and puff up a bit, no matter how exagerated the claim.

Triceratops

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..... WOW...THAT IS COOL.....NEXT BOOK MAKE HIM PUT UP MORE MONEY.....LOL

CONGRATES.....I GUESS NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO ASK YOU FOR YOUR AUTOGRAPH....HUH?....JUST SAY 'TO WENDY.......WITHOUT HER I COULD NEVER....ETC...ETC..." (AT LEAST I CAN SAY I KNEW YOU WHEN....)

John Ravenscroft,



Good to see you over here. I missed your insights and our debates, but I could not deal with the new forums on East of the Web.



I've never felt as though I was a good writer and I've never cared. My teachers told me I would never obtain a decent education until I started using my right hand and therefore would never be published.

When I was published I was told that the genre fiction I wrote, SF, mysteries, westerns, etc were all garbage that were polluting the minds of the youth of America and that I would be doing the world a singular service by remaining a ditch digger and leaving the writing to intelligent people who understood literature.

So now I'm back as a worthless hack and I still don't care.

Wottahell wottahell, there's a dance in the old dude yet.

Hi, WA.

I'm shaking my brains here. I'm sure we've met, but I have a dreadful memory. Oddly enough, I posted a piece about it here just yesterday:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7965

Forgive me if I need a little prodding.

John Ravenscroft said:

I'm not sure how many truly good writers would consider themselves to be truly good writers.

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I seem to remember Jim talking about Imposter Syndrome in the Learn Writing with Uncle Jim thread. There's something else on it here

Good article, Euan.

Thanks for the link.

I'm not a good writer; I'm at best, competent. That's not false modesty, either. It's the truth. I'm a decent editor, though I can't spell. No, that's not a contradiction in terms, it just means I'm deeply suspicious about English orthography as a governing principle.

I'm a fabulous reader though.

Really <g>

I became an English major for the worst, most impractical, and down right stupid reasons. I like to read. I like to read all kinds of things. I like the way words and sentences and ideas work, and I like to think about them, and talk about them with other people.

I didn't really think about the other part of being an English major. The one where they make you write a lot.

Okay writer? Yeah. Good writer? I dunno

I suppose I'm an okay writer. I have a modest publishing history for non-fiction, mostly articles and reviews and such. And I've strung for two "real" newspapers in the past.

And for a number of years I supported myself quite comfortably with my technical writing, which peers regard as excellent.

Also I've now got my two finished novels at an agent, who's shopping them to publishers.

So when I see those novels sold,in print, and on the bookshelves, then I may have made the transition from "okay" to "good".

anyone looking at your website, kd, wouldn't come away with the idea of linking the words 'katdad' and 'modesty' in the same sentence, lol. i'm just teasin' ya. seriously, i think of all the writers whose stuff i've looked at in part, you're one of the few that i can see being published, though i question your logic at times. otherwise i think you're a helluva writer on average.

and i've read plenty of people's stories and excerpts here that could probably be polished and sold. just a little bit of it makes me wonder what the hell that person was thinking wasting all that time on that story. as an aside, i guess, i feel that most of the stuff that has the potential to sell suffers the most from inconsistency and, well, poorly written material, but with good ideas. why are commas such a mystery to most people? lol.

anyway, i've gone back and read old stories. sometimes i've cringed, sometimes i impressed even myself (which isn't hard to do when you're your own biggest fan). an honest assessment of my ability is i broach competence more often than not. however average my practical writing skillz are, i feel my strength is being a hack. i'm master hack extraordinaire. were i actually proficient, i'd probably earn a good living being one of those guys who capitalizes on popular trends. what i should really do is write sequels and scripts for video games to be make into movies. (i'm constantly amazed at how you can screw up movies of 'house of the dead,' 'resident evil,' and 'mortal kombat II.')

it's difficult for me to feel arrogant about my stories knowing that at any given turn i could be blown out of the water, and that lesser stories than mine are pure and utter crap that doesn't deserve to be on the internut, and that's saying something. all indications are that i'm a middling writer with modest skill, a few decent ideas, and barely enough talent to make my future as a writer questionable at best. which puts me in with about 98% of the writers around, lol.

at least people love how i write short posts.

How to tell you're a good writer

Your readers tell you.

They tell you with the sound of rapidly-turning pages. They tell you by asking you for more.

There isn't any other test.

James, I guess it depends on how you define the term 'good writer'.

If 'good writer' = a writer who sells his/her work regularly, then you're right. The readers define the term, and (perhaps) the more readers you have, the better you are.

But I think I'd argue that there are problems with that definition. Or at least that 'good writer' can be defined in ways that don't depend simply on readership loyalty and numbers.

'Good writer' can mean a writer who produces work of literary merit.

Of course, that opens up a whole new can of literary worms. One woman's merit is another man's arty-farty crap.

I could boast about people that told me I should write for a living, and who’ve praised things I’ve written. But in reality, without people like Medievalist who have good grammar skills, and the ability to edit, I’d be dead in the water.

I couldn’t dream of having a “Fiction” career without someone who enjoys fixing other people’s mistakes. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. And I don’t mind admitting that I need other people’s strengths to compensate for my weaknesses. But this is life. If you are a one trick pony, you’d better have one heckuva trick.


If you grade creativity and grammar on scales of 1-10, my grammar scores would be embarrassingly low for a writer that presumes to be a published author of a bestseller. However, my creative ability, and knack for coming up with unique concepts, is relatively high. It always has been. When I wrote songs, I never had a writer’s block. And the feedback on my songs was always good. People recorded them, and also asked me to play (guitar) on their albums, because I could always come up with creative parts. I could have “Made it” in the music field if I didn’t choose a conventional family life instead.


Many writers here could edit for a living. Not me; but I’m convinced that with a great editor, I could write best sellers. And perhaps I’ll stand or fall on that basis, whether I’m pared with a talented editor who believes in my visions, and is willing to help me create a masterpiece.

John Ravenscroft said:

But I think I'd argue that there are problems with that definition. Or at least that 'good writer' can be defined in ways that don't depend simply on readership loyalty and numbers.

'Good writer' can mean a writer who produces work of literary merit.

Of course, that opens up a whole new can of literary worms. One woman's merit is another man's arty-farty crap.

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It also depends on why you're writing, I guess.

If the way you tell your story is more important to you than the story itself, or if you just want your writing to serve (or at least not to deserve) your story.

I won't talk about numbers, but I surely would prefer good feedback from readers than being acclaimed by literary critics.

Well, having both would be fine, for sure, but I don't think I could feel like I'm a 'good writer' if readers wouldn't read my books despite their literary merits.

Not sure if I'm really clear but I hope you get my point