What makes good writing, and how do I become a better writer?
If you are a writer you have likely considered these questions.
Certainly I have, as a writer and as a teacher of writing for many years.
Surely writing is one of the most complex things we do as humans,
and pinning down what makes good writing
is as slippery as trying to catch a pollywog in a stream.
We know good writing when we see it, but understanding what it is
and applying that understanding to improve our writing is an ongoing challenge.
Not everyone takes up that challenge the way that writers do.
Many people learn enough to be proficient writers
for their chosen path in life, plumber or phlebotomist.
And that's okay. It's practical and proactive.
But for those of us who have chosen to write, that challenge is a lifelong passion.
Morning Pages
Aurora, Colorado, USA
June 29, 2024
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Do you remember the childhood magic of discovering
that you could make marks on paper and tell a story?
Few of us do because we were so young, perhaps as young as when we were toddlers.
I don't remember a time that I couldn't read or write,
but I have spent enough time in the company of young children
to see the wonder and delight in their eyes when they realize
they can tell a story by making marks on paper with pencils, crayons, or markers.
I think storytelling must lie at the heart of what it is to be human.
Just Scribbles?
This is my sister Bertie's earliest preserved writing at 2 years and 3 months old.
Lac Seul, Ontario, Canada
Circa June 1961
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
At its simplest writing is visibly forming symbols
on a surface to communicate thoughts and ideas.
Whether it was a prehistoric man scratching with charcoal on a rock wall
a Sumerian pressing a reed stylus into damp clay,
a Medieval scribe putting quill to parchment,
or a contemporary person writing with a ballpoint pen on a notepad
or thumbing words into an iPhone,
humans have been compelled to communicate and to preserve their thoughts and ideas.
These intentions often start when we are very young.
Just scribbles?
Take another look at my sister Bertie's earliest preserved writing,
a letter to our father.
Perhaps you missed the face, the body, or the arms holding something.
I was stunned when the scribbles first resolved into a definite image for me many years later.
Twenty-seven-month-old Bertie worked very hard on the middle section of her letter,
and I am convinced that the person is holding our dachshund Gretchen in his or her arms.
I can see Gretchen's nose, eye, ear, and front paws.
Of course, as a reader, I am bringing my knowledge and ideas to her story,
but that is what readers do.
Bertie grew up to become a teacher,
The intention to tell a story was innate in her, as it is for many writers.
Author Roberta (Bertie) Heembrock Shares Her Book Oscar the Herring Gull with Penny Graham
Penny has been a friend of our family for over 50 years.
She owns Mariner Cruises, a popular whale-watching business on Brier Island in Nova Scotia.
On the Bay of Fundy out of Westport, Nova Scotia, Canada
July 31, 2014
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
When we write we have the intention of communicating effectively.
The general consensus is that good writing includes structural and stylistic components,
with an additional literary component if the writing is creative.
As writers we want to connect with our chosen audience in a meaningful way.
We want to engage readers, impact them, make them remember our writing,
whatever form it takes.
Good writing also has an emotional component, especially in creative fiction or nonfiction.
Connecting with an audience emotionally
makes writing more compelling, meaningful, and memorable.
Some might argue that Bertie's scribbles aren't true writing,
because she is not using a recognizable language and its conventions.
Perhaps, but for its intended audience, my father,
Bertie's scribbles would have had a lasting emotional impact.
He was flying around Northern Ontario in bush planes visiting remote Indian schools,
while my mother, we five, and Gretchen were living in a fish camp on Lac Seul.
Our father missed us terribly and was dreadfully lonely.
Portrait with Fish
Barbie, Me with my arm around Bertie, Roy, and Donnie
with three lake trout
Two Point, Lac Seul, Ontario, Canada
Late June 1961
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Gretchen with Roy, Me, Mom and Bertie
We don't have a lot of photos from this time ~ Film was expensive to buy and to process.
Attawapiskat Lake, Northern Ontario, Canada
Early June 1961
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
It is the emotional impact of Bertie's "story" that makes it unforgettable for me,
long after the death of my parents and our beloved Gretchen.
It makes toddler Bertie as vivid and alive to me as current Bertie.
I would argue that her "writing" was compelling, meaningful, and memorable;
good writing.
As an IWSG Admin I have been given this platform to post on now and in the future.
My intention for new posts is to look more closely
at some of the elements of effective writing and how writers can become better writers.
What do you think makes good writing?
How do you work on becoming a better writer?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue.
