Good and Bad Writing

Examples of Bad Writing
1. The first example of bad writing, is indeed bad. Firstly, this piece of writing needs to go on a diet. It is full of sentences that repeat what was just said and does not really tell us anything. Secondly, this witting is full of truisms, such as "One might conclude that the world we human beings live in is not without a variety of many different and diverse cultures with different cultural practices and hence different moralities." The writing uses these truisms along with some questions, such as "And who is behind all of the madness of ethical relativism?" to tell the reader what they already know. The author does not put a great deal of their own incite into the writing, now do they offer an original point of view. Thirdly, the writing is laden with spelling and grammatical errors, for example "closet" instead of closest. Fourthly, bad writing is said to have either no direction, or too many directions. This article appears to have too many. Within the few sentences that I have read, I do not get a clear idea of what the author is trying to say. Finally, this piece of writing thinks too much of itself, using over the top wording that only confuse the reader more. An example of this is, "Studying ethics from a philosophical point of view, ethical relativist’s might conclude that your wasting your time just like philosophers have always wasted they’re time." This sentence is much too long and complicated. It does not make the writing sound clever and sophisticated, but primary and unsympathetic of the audience. This is an example of bad writing.

2. The second example of bad writing is very confusing. The entire excerpt is one long, complicated, hard to follow sentence. The reader is unable to follow and retain the information through the entire thing. The author tries to be too clever and to sound too sophisticated. Unfortunately, the opposite effect is created. The reader feels as though the author is trying too hard and the reader therefore begins to distrust the author as someone with a valid opinion. The reader feels that the author is overcompensating and does not actually have anything to say. This piece of writing would be much better if the author would take the time to change the one long sentence into well constructed, coherent sentences.

3. The third piece or bad writing does not make sense. This is evident in the example, "If the theories of science were the laws of origin how is it said that people have such strong emotions from a science experiment?" This sentence is badly structured and difficult to comprehend. The sentence needs to go on a diet. If the sentence was to be edited so that only the necessary information remained, it would sound much better. It could also be broken down into more then one sentence. Secondly, the article does not make logical sense. The writing claims that "He thought religion fulfilled the gap for new adults who had no parents but there seems to be a lot of children with parents that give them love, security, and their needs and they still believe highly in God and the scriptures." This does not prove that ''religion does not fill the gap of a parent which has been lost.'' The first point, does not prove the second, which leaves the reader very confused and convinced that the author has no idea what they are talking about. This is clearly bad writing.

Examples of Good Writing
1. The first example is a piece of quality writing. The answer is easy to read and to understand. Sophisticated language is used, but it still makes sense and flows nicely. The author does not attempt to use words that is above his ability, for which the reader appreciates. All of the sentences make sense in the context, and all of the information is correct, not exaggerated. The piece respects the audience, and uses vocabulary that someone wanting to know about fish would understand. The paragraph has been well edited, so that only the necessary information remains. This is a good piece of writing.

2. The second piece of writing is also well done. The author uses several quotations to support his ideas, and adds to them personally. The author asks the reader a question, and appropriately answers it. This excerpt has a clear direction and remains on topic. The author uses appropriate language which is not overused nor does it seem forced. The article flows very nicely and makes sense. This is an example of a good piece of writing.

3. The last example is very good. The author presents his ideas in a logical order that leaves the reader convinced that he must be right. The language is appropriate and easy to understand. The writing has a very clear direction, and never strays from the topic. The article only includes relevant information and although it is more or less an opinion the author is stating, he does not try to lie or deceive the reader. This piece was well written.

Audience
The idea and concept of audience may well be the most difficult part of determining whether of not writing is good or bad. The author writes to please his audience. What an 82 year old women would find good writing, is most likely very different from her 46 year old son or her seven year old grandson. People like to read things for different reasons. Sometimes they want information, sometimes they are researching, and sometimes they just want to be entertained. How you view a piece of writing also has to do with your education and reading ability. If you are not a strong reader, you want a piece of writing that you can read and feel positive about. If you are a lover of great literature, you may cringe well trying to read the latest In Touch magazine. What is so amazing about writing is how many people it has the ability to touch. Millions of people read a great variety of writing every day and it affects each person differently. People who study languages may well be able to come up with rules to help distinguish what is quality writing, but at the end of the day, if you can find an audience that loves your writing you have succeeded. Just like writers write for a variety of reasons, readers read for a plethora of reasons. There could never be a true set of rules to distinguish quality writing because it is a very personal and different for each person. However, these rules certainly do point out some very poor writing habits. It is very important that the author understand and respect his or her audience. An author will not succeed if they do not know and acknowledge who their audience is. Audience is an incredibly difficult factor when determining good and bad writing.