What Makes Good Writing?

How Do You Write? What makes “good” writing? A question often asked by English professors at different levels of education. Instructors often wonder whether anyone can really be taught how to write; and why their students do not know how to write at a certain level. To begin to understand what makes writing and writers “good,” we need to ask the larger question: What is writing? It’s easy to agree on the definition of writing if we limit it to something like putting pen to paper or typing ideas onto a computer. But if we look more closely at the elements of the act of writing, the definition comes to life. For me, I believe that the characteristics of good writing consists of having characterization, being able to set the right tone, illustrating
imagery, and having a climax. All four of these help grab the reader and draw them into your writing; whether it is a memoir, an article, or a published book.
Characterization is the concept of creating characters for a narrative. I believe it is an important element to have in any writing because it sets the foundation. Characterization is considered a literary device that is used step by step in literature to highlight and explain the details in a story. It is the initial stage of introduction, describing the character behaviors and thought-process, followed by a progression into the story. There are several great examples of characterization in literature, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite. In this novel, the main idea revolves around the social status of the characters. “I (Nick Carraway) lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two… Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water… I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans. Daisy was my second cousin once removed and I’d known Tom in college” (Fitzgerald, 8). In this particular quote, Nick Carraway, the narrator, introduces two main character, Daisy and Tom, and illustrates how he lives on the less prestige side of the river. In the novel, East Egg was considered old money, wealth that you were born into; West Egg was considered new money, wealth that you had accumulated in your lifetime. Occupations was used insightfully in the novel to highlight characteristics of certain characters. Gatsby who, despite being so rich, is known by his profession: bootlegging. He had an illegal job that earned him a fortune but failed to get him into the upper class of New York. In contrast, Nick has a clean and fair job as a bonds man, in which defines his character.
Another characteristic that I believe is important to good writing is setting the right tone.
Tone is one of those things, along with the author’s voice, that can be difficult for us get our heads around, since to some extent it just happens. Tone is a literary compound of composition in which encompasses the attitude of the story towards the reader and audience. It may be formal, informal, intimate, somber, or many other possible attitudes. I think of tone as sort of like a flavor. The reader will get a spoonful of sweet, salty, or mixture of everything. One good example that sets the tone for me comes from the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when the jury comes back from deliberation on their verdict of Tom Robinson. “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tate who handed it to the clerk who handed it to the judge…I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…’” (Lee, 215). Right from the beginning and throughout this quote, author Harper Lee illustrates the tone and mood of the story. Not one member of the jury looked at the defendant, Tom Robinson, setting the tone to a somber state. The reader then gets a sense that something unlucky is about to happen to the defendant. With each “guilty” verdict, the author plays on the emotions of the reader, giving them a preview of how the rest of the story is going to play
out. After setting the right tone, I believe imagery is an important characteristic that helps create good writing. Imagery, in a literary text, is an author 's use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to the writers work. It appeals to human senses to deepen the reader 's understanding of what’s being read. Powerful forms of imagery engage all of the senses and sometimes uses metaphor to express ideas and concepts. Continuing with the same example from the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, during Tom Robinson guilty verdict: “I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them” (Lee, 215). Author Harper Lee gives the reader an illustration of how much pain Jem is feeling with every “guilty” verdict. Mr. Robinson, the defendant, had his head down when the judge was polling the jury, he did not want to look up but instead looked to his lawyer, Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem for short). Not only Tom Robinson but the reader as well can picture the agonizing pain. Mr. Robinson is about to be convicted of murder. Another prime example that portrays imagery very well comes from the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare: “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night. Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear.” (Shakespeare, 1985, 1.5.54)
Romeo praises Juliet by saying that she appears more radiant than the brightly lit torches in the hallway. He says that at night her face glows like a bright jewel shining against the dark skin of an African person. Through the contrasting images of light and dark, Romeo portrays Juliet’s beauty.
Another element that I believe good writing should consist of is having a climatic point. Climax comes from the Greek term meaning “ladder”, it is a particular point in a narrative at which the conflict or tension hits the highest point. Climax is a structural part of a plot and is at times referred to as a crisis. It is a decisive moment or a turning point in a storyline at which the rising action turns around into a falling action. Usually in a five-act play like “Romeo and Juliet,” the climax occurs in the middle, Act 3. In the first scene of the act, Romeo challenges Tybalt to a duel after he killed Mercutio:
“TYBALT
Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, kept company with him here
Shalt with him hence! shall be with him from now on
ROMEO
This shall determine that!
[They fight. Romeo kills Tybalt]” (Shakespeare, 3.1.138)
Romeo then realizes that he had just killed his wife’s cousin. This point in the play is considered a climax as the audience begins to wonders how Romeo would get out of this terrible situation. Moreover, after this act all the prior conflicts starts to be resolved and mysteries from the beginning of the play starts to unfold. Causing the story to move towards a logical conclusion.
So again, if I was asked the question: What makes “good” writing? To me, I believe that the characteristics of good writing consists of having characterization, being able to set the right tone, illustrating imagery, and having a climax. Characterization sets the foundation of the whole story, tone plays with the reader’s emotions, imagery portrays the scene in which brings the story to life, and climax keeps the reader and audience hooked into your work. Thus having these four elements in any writing, I would think to consider it as “good.”

Works Cited
1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.
2. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Grand Central Publishing: New York, 1960.
3. Shakespeare, William, and Alan Durband. Romeo and Juilet. Woodbury, N.Y: Barron’s, 1985.