Introduction to
Creative Writing
What is ‘Good’ Writing?
© Sophie Playle, 2012
www.sophieplayle.com
Today’s Lesson
By the end of this session you will be able to...
Discuss and recognise the
different ways of defining ‘good’
writing.
 Activity
 Feedback and group discussion
 Subjective and objective viewpoints
 Mini quiz
Activity: Rank the Extracts
In pairs (or small groups), rank
the three writing examples from
‘best’ to ‘worst’ writing. You
should discuss the reasons for
your decisions with your
partner(s).
Remember: There is no right or
wrong answer.
Time: 5 min
A
Night City was like a deranged
experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a
bored researcher who kept one thumb
permanently on the fast-forward button. Stop
hustling and you sank without a trace, but
move a little too swiftly and you'd break the
fragile surface tension of the black market;
either way, you were gone, with nothing left of
you but some vague memory in the mind of a
fixture like Ratz, though heart or lungs or
kidneys might survive in the service of some
stranger with New Yen for the clinic tanks.
- Neuromancer, William Gibson, 1984
B
The lucidity, the clarity of the light
that afternoon was sufficient to itself; perfect
transparency must be impenetrable, these
vertical bars of a brass-coloured distillation of
light coming down from sulphur-yellow
interstices in a sky hunkered with grey clouds
that bulge with more rain. It struck the wood
with nicotine-stained fingers, the leaves
glittered. A cold day of late October, when
the withered blackberries dangled like their
own dour spooks on the discoloured
brambles.
- ‘The Erl King’ from The Bloody Chamber,
Angela Carter, 1979
C
All that they gave me, my brothers,
was a crappy starry mirror to look into, and
indeed I was not your handsome young
Narrator any longer but a real strack of a
sight, my rot swollen and my glazzies all red
and my nose bumped a bit also. They all had a
real horrowshow smeck when they viddied
my like dismay, and one of them said: 'Love's
young nightmare like.' And then a top
millicent came in with like stars on his
pletchoes to show he was high high high, and
he viddied me and said: 'Hm.' So then they
started.
- A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962
Subjectivity – Personal Preference
 Genre – elements that make up a predetermined formula
 Subject – what the book is about (intrigue, character...)
 Style – how the book is written (language, narration...)
 Era – when the book was written & the perception of the
times
 Social influences – recommendation, prizes, movies...
Objectivity – Widely Accepted Criteria for ‘Good’ Writing
 Ideas that are interesting/important/original
 Structure that is logical and effective
 Voice that is individual/appropriate
 Language that is specific, fluent and expressive
 Conventions that are correct and communicative
Super Fun Mini Quiz
1. 'Good' writing can mean different things to different people.
True
2. The enjoyment of rococo (elaborately ornamental) prose, like
the Angela Carter extract B, is an example of...
Subjective (personal) preference
3. Making up words is a trait of 'bad' writing.
False
Summing Up...
 There are many subjective (personal) criteria of ‘good’ writing, e.g. style,
subject matter...
 There are also more objective (widely accepted) criteria of what constitutes
‘good’ writing, e.g. clarity, appropriateness of voice...
 There is sometimes a lot of cross-over between the two categories. There is
no strict right or wrong answer. In order to create ‘good’ writing, the writer
must consider these points.
You should now be confident in your ability to...
Discuss and recognise the different ways of defining ‘good’ writing.

Thank You