How do I know if I'm a bad writer?

Question

I was recently writing a story and went to correct it and someone else also corrected it for me. I came across continuity errors, unnatural dialogue and other things. I wrote the story quickly because the deadline was short, but after that I felt like a very bad writer. How do I know if I'm a bad writer? If I write very badly? I'm a beginner but I noticed all the mistakes I made that I committed were clear.

Answer 1

You are asking a great question. But before answering it, I think there is something you need to know:

Writing is rewriting

Every story that you’ve read in a book or magazine has been revised and edited many times before it was published.

Or to put it another way, ‘everyone’s first draft sucks.’ Neil Gaiman says that the first draft is for you. The second draft is so it looks like you knew what you were doing when you wrote it.

The way to know if your writing is good or bad is to learn how to read critically. It’s as important a skill as story telling and the craft of writing.

You can teach yourself critical reading by analyzing the writing of effective and ineffective writers. The reason for reading the work of effective writers is because they can teach you how to write well. The reason for reading work by ineffective writers is because it’s easier to recognize their mistakes.

The process is simple. Read a short story or a chapter twice. The first time is for pleasure. The second time pay close attention to the sentences and the words and how they affect you. Notice which parts engage your imagination and which don’t. Notice which parts reveal character and motivations and build suspense and which don’t.

I found it hard at first. The more I do it, the easier it becomes and the better writer I become.

Answer 2

Everyone is a bad writer when they start out. The question is whether you can get better. Creativity, linguistic skill, and so on, are not equally distributed among people. You'll have to find out, if you have what it takes to become sucessful as a writer, by investing many years and a lot of time and effort into learning it.

But even after making the effort, how can you tell whether you are actually becoming a better writer, or if you are still bad? What is bad writing, anyway? Is it boring writing that doesn't engage its readers? Is it a story riddled with plot holes? Is it unbelievable characters or contrived plot devices? Is it writing that attracts only a handful of readers? 50 Shades of Grey, for example, has been widely criticized for beeing badly written, and yet it sold millions of copies and was made into a major Hollywood movie, making its author rich. Can it actually be badly written? Or does bad writing maybe not matter as much as many writers fear?

My advice is:

1. Have a job that is not writing that provides a stable and sufficient income (or keep going to school or studying, if that's where you are).
2. If you enjoy writing, even if it doesn't make you any money, write. If you want to be a writer to become famous and/or rich, don't write.*
3. If you eventually have success, good. If not, at least you did something with your life that you enjoyed.

There is one aspect that objectively makes writing bad, though, and that is lack of linguistic competency. Your writing must not be unintentionally grammatically and orthographically incorrect. Putting some effort into learning to write in proper English (or whatever language you write in) will make a huge difference for the reading experience.

---

* Popular and oft-cited examples of writers who "just kept at it" and eventually became successful, like Stephen King or J. K. Rowling, are the exception. There is a vast number of writers who do keep at it and yet never get published or, if they self-publish, never get read. Here's a post I made that cites some numbers.

Answer 3

---

Putting things into perspective . . .

Types of judgements

1. Subjective judgements

   • Self
   • Other person (e.g. a reader giving their opinion)
   • Consensus of readers (e.g. average rating from multiple reviews)

2. Objective judgements

   • Self
   • Other person (e.g. a university lecturer using a rubric)
   • Consensus of readers (unlikely because readers tend to read passively)
   • Consensus of academics (of a work that is famous or celebrated)

Subjectivity is the default of anyone giving their opinion; however, we can reduce subjectivity and introduce more objectivity through both reading practice and mode of judgement.

Reading practices

The two types of reading practices are:

1. Passive reading (i.e. reading for enjoyment, for pleasure, and general appreciation)
2. Active reading (i.e. reading for understanding, for analysis, and specific appreciation)

To be more objective, we have to engage in active reading practices; to be more subjective; we simply read passively. Active reading practices generally require formal training of which there are levels. That is, active reading in a childhood education setting using watered down literary theory is not the same as active reading in a tertiary setting. In tertiary settings literary theory is less diluted in undergraduate study, and undiluted in doctorate level analyses.

Modes of judgement

1. Subjective modes

   • Self-reflection (general description of observations thus shallow)
   • Review (a brief expression of thoughts and feelings about a work)
   • Reader feedback (usually from a beta reader expressing their specific reading experience of your work)

2. Objective judgements

   • Self-reflection (dialogic reflection drawn from analysis)
   • Using a rubric
   • Using a checklist
   • An editorial report from a professional editor

3. Combination of modes

   • Critical self-reflection (a higher level that dialogic reflection)

When to judge

The early iterations of creative writing (be it fiction or non-fiction) are bound to have errors as well as require rewriting. That is why the maxim exists that the art of writing is rewriting.

When you publish or share your work, that very act is a declaration that the work is of a standard to be read by others. Therefore, you invite criticism of the quality of the writing. The way to mitigate that is to manage reader expectations (e.g. "This is a draft" or "This is a polished manuscript").

A story should never be shared until it is properly proofread in passes with targeted edits—it is an insult to your reader to do otherwise unless you clearly convey it is a draft and/or a WIP.

We are all lifelong learners

Whether you are an expert writer or not, we are all lifelong learners. How does that answer your question? Well, it is not that there are bad writers per se, but that there is bad writing. Bad writing is writing that has not been properly developed. It is a subjective term that is derived from applying a deficit model of criticism. Deficit models are not helpful. What is helpful is a strengths-based approach and constructivism.

Handling negative (and positive) feedback

Feedback from others is an opportunity to respond by reflecting on what is said about our writing. From reflections, we can move forward by planning our next steps or taking action. Whether a writer takes action or not is their responsibility as not all feedback is applicable, ready to be understood by the writer, or relevant. The onus is on the writer to decide what they take on board or not. Responding to feedback by "shooting the messenger" is unhelpful so just thank individuals for their feedback whether it is relevant or not – this includes negative reviews. As for trolls . . . just ignore them entirely because showing their attention is rewarding them for their inappropriate behaviour. That is, the worst thing you can do to a troll is ignore them.

My two cents . . .

Map out your writing process and trust in the process. A good writing process—at the bare minimum—will take into account how and when you will rewrite and re-vision in response to feedback. Just remember that making mistakes is okay. We all make them, we're human. It is what we do to fix those mistakes that matter.

Answer 4

This is not so much about writing as it is about learning any new skill. I can't find the source of it, but there's a common saying like

The first 100 suck

So what. You're just starting out, whether it's writing a story, music, learning a sport. Chances are unless you are naturally gifted (and even then) that the first couple times and even more are not that great.

So quite simply, write 100 stories to get it out of your system. Everytime you will pick something up that you like and can continue doing so, and probably find even more stuff that you don't like, which you can avoid in the future.

Doesn't have to be a new story every time, you can also just rewrite some of your old stories. Just don't get attached to those stories, view it as a learning and developing experience. Embrace the badness.

You also mentioned time pressure. You can't force creativity.

Answer 5

Being a bad writer is not necessarily the same as writing badly. You know you had written badly by doing it fast and without edits. I think what you want to know is whether you have the capacity to write well, should you set your mind to it and devote the requisite time.

Let’s start with this: your question, though short, was written pretty well. I suspect you’re at least a decent writer.

But I think the truest litmus test of writing is clarity and understanding. And the main way to assess those is to share your writing and ask others.

In my sophomore year of college, a sociology professor inked up an assignment I wrote and slammed me. I met with him and he generously sat with me for half an hour and helped me edit. And it was all about clarity: saying what you mean as succinctly and logically as possible. I realized to my horror I had gotten into college on standardized test scores and my high school’s reputation. My admissions essay was awful. I slowly and painfully learned to write.

But it wasn’t so bad. The main thing, in the absence of peer review, is to stand back and read it like someone who doesn’t know you and had never seen it before. Read it out loud. Mark it up. Make it better.

You’ll be a great writer if you aren’t already. I know this because you expressed that you care and took the biggest step, by asking.

I wrote and edited numerous books and articles, and one day will get a novel or two out of my head. You have your life ahead of you.

Answer 6

You don't.

What you will know is whether a given work turned out okay, exceptionally good or sub-par for your standard. You won't be able to tell how good your writing as a whole is on your own, and any thoughts you'll have about that will be much more of a reflection of your confidence than a judgment of the actual text.

This was one work you aren't happy with. Let's turn that notion around: The fact that you aren't proud of it says that deep down you know you can write better.

Chances are, your next story will be something you can be proud of.