I don’t know about you guys, but with the explosive growth of the online publishing industry and the constant debate over the authority definitions when it comes to journalists, bloggers or writers, I am often left confused and lost as to 1) what I should be writing 2) how should I be writing about it — be it travel-writing or anything else.
I do believe that RSS has changed the way people read what’s being written, making it important to know how to write for an audience who primarily reads on the internet — irrespective of what you write/blog about.
Although I doubt print media (often referred to these days as “writing on dead trees” haha) will ever be eliminated altogether, the internet is the future and we need to gear ourselves, or atleast educate ourselves, about the audience who uses the internet — not only as their primary source of information, but as their primary source of “recreational-information”.
I often beat myself up about my writing, constantly thinking I don’t have enough vocabulary, I lack in my ability to spin and craft stories, everything I read seems so much better than what I write, etc etc. So, in attempt to clean up my writing I’ve been doing a distance learning course from the London School of Journalism, am trying to read as much as possible, and am planning to do a writing degree at grad school.
So when I came across this article entitled “Why great writing doesn’t matter online” I read it with confusion, curiosity, and to some extent, relief.
Here are some highlights from the piece: [the notes in square brackets are my input].
-“People don’t read online. Nor do they scan. They extract ideas, resonating with some and disregarding others. They do so at breakneck speed, only slowing down when a particular idea truly warrants it.”
-“Good writing, clever writing, beautiful writing — all of these things are unnecessary in the creation of great web content. In this medium, writing is just a vehicle for entertaining ideas, useful ideas, novel ideas and practical ideas. All great web writing must do is communicate great ideas without getting in their way.” [I did a little jump of glee when I read this bit]
-“Clarity is the only necessary characteristic of good web writing. Humorous pieces and personal stories are the only exceptions: some degree of finesse matters for both, though the ideas behind the writing are still more important than any other factor.”
-“Traditionally ‘good’ writing can sometimes cloud good ideas. It’s why so many journalists make lackluster bloggers. They aren’t aware that their writing is no longer being read. It’s being mined.”
-“…the vast majority of the world’s most successful bloggers fall into this category — their work wouldn’t pass muster in most mainstream publications, and yet they’re probably read by more people (and read more passionately) than all their staff journalists combined.”
[My quest of being a travel-writer/journalist somehow lead be to become a prolific blogger; I have often blamed my imperfect writing-skills on that count. So I don’t know whether I should be thrilled about this point or I should duck under my sofa and stay there].
-“…Shelf The Elements of Style. [Haha] You don’t need it. Your readers aren’t looking for great writing — if they were, they’d look inside a broadsheet newspaper, a well-loved magazine or a Pulitzer Prize Winning novel. They want your best ideas. They want information that means something to them.”
A bit of an eye opener for online writers, eh?
You can read the full piece here.
What I got from it is that as long as you have a good idea and you can express it so it can be understood clearly — nothing else matters. Style is important, but we don’t have to hang ourselves over it. No? What do you think?
I keep a personal blog, write for other blogs and write for the Old Gray Lady on a very regular basis (in addition to other print publications), and I think the advice in this post is very dangerous. There is still a lot of public distrust and wariness about what’s being published on the web. I’m afraid that if we (web authors) accept mediocre writing styles then we are hurting our mission to be accepted as credible, valuable sources. It is absolutely true that web readers are reading in a different way, but crafting our writing to satisfy their needs does not mean we have to dumb down our writing in any way. In many ways, it means we have to elevate and further hone our skills — writing in an incredibly concise yet punchy and stimulating manner. This is difficult to do and especially do well. I fervently believe that great writing DOES and SHOULD matter online. And any writer who accepts a lesser perspective is only cheating themselves (and hurting the rest of us).
Hmmm. Dangerous indeed. I’ve found that people want cheap content, not necessarily good content. I think we writers have to demand more of ourselves, our readers and our clients. There really is no excuse for bad writing.
Well, I wonder…
How many people who read the newspaper or who subscribe to news magazines do so for style. To suggest that if a reader wants good writing he or she will go to print only highlights the fact that many bloggers just don’t know how to write, and we have therefore become accustomed to less-than-good writing. I think it is a classic example of the chicken-and-the-egg. Ask this question: Who said blog readers don’t care for good writing? Where was that written BEFORE poor writing became the norm. If bloggers, for the most part, had no training in decent writing, or are products of poor education, then we are correct in saying poor writing will suffice. But, to say blog readers don’t want good writing, I think, is a conclusion born, not by desires of readers, but rather what they have come to expect simply because so many un-trained folks have taken to blogging.
Is this a condemnation of blogging? Heck, no! It is merely questioning the suggestion that good writing will be out of place on blogs.
If bloggers had all been prize winners then the expectations would be higher.
Conclusion: If you’re a writer driven by excellence DO NOT LET the lower standards of run-of-the-mill writing keep you from running a decent mill!
Blog should not equal schlock! (I believe that is biblical.)
R. S. Hale
I think you are mixing and matching “writing†and “blogging†completely at random. Lots of blogs don’t need “good, clever, and beautiful†writing. If you’re reading a blog like Ikeahacker, you’re just looking to turn your Ikea cabinets into tables or whatever, and in that case all you need is proficient use of English. That’s fine.
But that’s not “writing†as I understand it. And I wonder how many of your readers are here because we are hoping to create great “web content.â€
I am dismayed to read about your leap of glee at learning that readers allegedly don’t want good writing.
If I were reading CulinaryRoad and found a post wondering if we should all stop caring about learning complicated cooking skills because all eaters really want is to cease being hungry, I would stop reading that blog. Basically you’re saying “Stop trying to make hollandaise – don’t you see how popular McDonald’s is?â€
This isn’t a new idea. The masses have always gravitated toward the cheap, simple, and low brow, and there have always been those happy to make money from supplying particleboard furniture, insipid romantic comedies, meals-in-a-bag and now “web content†that’s nothing more than a bulleted list of things that are cool.
I’m a writer. If I don’t end up a *good* writer, it won’t be because I decided not to bother trying. You will never convince me not to put effort into my craft.
For someone from a corporate-job-world who has decided to write, consult and train fulltime in his pre-forties, throwing most notions of ‘regular’ global existence away, all I can say is: writing- OF ANY SORT- must first be from the heart, should be proud to have your name stamped under it, and should make you believe in YOU. If it passes muster, more often than not readers will feel your pulse, your personality, feelings, sincerity and reason for the writing. One can be surprised how intuitive reading {of any sort} can be to a reader. Writing – and therefore reading – is about “contact, connect and communicate” on a very personal, very direct basis. If your writing embarasses you or hides behind ploys to keep away from the real you, it is time to hone your skills, until the moment when ownership of your written words comes naturally, flowing and full frontal. Most importantly, a writer should not be scared to reveal her soul, for it is only in knowing yourself, and being comfortable in it, that any reader can be engaged. Whatever the media.
I second the critiques of the posts above. Although writing style and quality may not be important in a how-to blog, it is essential in areas like travel writing, food writing, etc., in which readers are looking for an experience, rather than purely nuts-and-bolts information.
In addition, I’m sure I’m not the only person out there who is turned off by sloppy writing in general. Even if I am just looking for how-to info, when I read typos, grammatical mistakes, etc., the author/blog/website loses credibility. I’m sorry to say, this has been the case at times with Written Road, and I feel that the quality of the site has diminished since Jen Leo left.
Anon, you might be surprised that we actually agree with you about the quality of Written Road for the past year and a half since Jen left. Neither of us have been able to put the time into WR that we have liked, but that is going to change soon. Abha and I are going to be much more involved and there’s going to be a complete redesign that is going to make Written Road a far better site than it has ever been. I can’t say too much at the moment, but expect some major changes soon. Don’t let Abha’s sarcasm (which if you read closely was what it was) fool you above, quality is exactly what we are going to be aiming for.
You’re saying that Abha’s post was sarcasm? I read it again (closely) and do not see it.
Where is Abha, anyway? I know she writes for six other blogs, but since WR posts rarely generate this many comments, I’m surprised she has not participated in this discussion since posting.
I see it as sarcasm with the intent of creating discussion. She’s around somewhere. Hopefully she will chime in when she gets the chance.
I’m here! I am not suggesting that we need to dumb down our writing, or that being sloppy is acceptable. Bad writing is not going to be read, and compromising on writing quality and style is unacceptable. The article I posted was a different take on online publishing from people who are making 6-figures from the traffic they draw to their blogs; they must be doing something right.
I do think that the blogging explosion and increase in online reading has changed the way people read everything. It has opened doors to a new realm of writing (whatever the subject might be) that more people can be part of, that, although will not tolerate substandard writing, doesn’t necessarily require outstanding writing. I think as long as this is not abused, it’s great as many more “writers” get the chance to be published and share their stories.
On a separate note further to Nick’s: keep an eye on this site, we have some exciting plans!
Abha,
You sound like you have a pulpy, chick-lit tome in the works. So what you are saying is- commercial considerations are/ should/could be the reason for writing, nothing more is really reqd.
And as long as people are reading and/or paying for it, it\’s a job well done?
Where do \’excellence, outstanding\’ etc figure in this scheme of things?
I don’t think anyone is saying that money is the motivation or that bad writing is a good thing, just that there are bloggers out there such as Perez Hilton that make a ton of money and they have absolutely no writing skills.
Where do you think is the point of balance, the fulcrum of excellence in writing vs. commercial considerations?
Does such a point exist?
Tabloids exist, and do well……..Punch and Mad magazine don’t do well……
I can write sleaze that will steam up the screens , AND get in the moolah, I promise you that.
Maybe I should do both. Write for myself and the machine out there. To be honest, I often do that.
Helps keep the bank balance green. Excuse me, I have to go….feel some poetry bubbling up from deep down inside…..;-}
Sorry, false alarm.
It was just some old purple prose.
Oh well, back to the grind, then…..
“there are bloggers out there such as Perez Hilton that make a ton of money and they have absolutely no writing skills.”
Yes, there are people out there who make money without writing skills, but what does that have to do with us? Perez Hilton posts celebrity photos and makes money. So? Some people make a lot of money welding, which doesn’t require writing skills either. Isn’t this a blog for writers?
(Oh, and have we given up the idea that “aabh” was being sarcastic with her initial post in favor of lowering standards?)
This is a blog for travel media of all sorts. Just because a post mentions that it is possible to make alot of money with a blog and no writing skills, doesn’t mean we condone it.
What does it have to do with us? Well, we are writers and we are bloggers. To know what is going on out there in the rest of the blogging and writing world or whatever it is is important, regardless of whether or not we approve or disapprove of it. It has everything to do with “us.”
So… were you being sarcastic or weren’t you? And, what is this “alot” of which you speak?
Nick, I don’t get your argument above in response to the “What does it have to do with us?” question. We’ve established that blogging and good writing are not mutually inclusive. As evidenced by the many comments above, your readers care about what’s going on in the writing world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we care what’s going on in the blogging world. This is a blog about *writing*. (It’s called Written Road, remember?) A discussion about Perez Hilton and other bloggers who can barely string a complete sentence together, regardless of the money they may make, has absolutely nothing to do with us.
To return to Abha’s orignal post and later comments, I don’t think the growth in online publishing has changed writing standards across the board. People go to a website like World Hum, for instance, to read quality writing, not just to glean information. There *are* higher standards and expectations. And for a blog purporting to be “your inside scoop to the travel publishing world” to suggest otherwise (and no, Abha’s post clearly wasn’t meant as sarcasm) is a little discouraging.
Re. Beth Ellen’s reference to “Aabh” and Anon’s reference to “alot”: Clearly, decent writing — including correct spelling! — matters. Too funny.
This blog is “the inside scoop to the travel publishing world.” Travel publishing. This includes writing, blogging, websites, books, and whatever else falls into that category. It has never been solely about travel writing nor will it ever be. It is important to mention a blogger such as Perez Hilton for what he is doing. Say a travel blogger is able to attract the kind of audience that this guy does. Say that one blogger, even though he might lack the writing skills, is able to get hundreds of thousands of page views a month and becomes the go to blog for travel and all sub-genres. Wouldn’t that be important to mention? Obviously there isn’t something like that now, but will there be sometime in the future? There’s a good chance.
The web has lowered standards in writing on the web. Just on the web. This isn’t a new observation and it has been written about numerous times before by dozens of publications. Some websites do have higher standards and have been able to provide quality travel writing, such as World Hum. Maybe it is discouraging that standards have lowered in many places, it doesn’t mean you should accept that or lower your own standards. You are not going to win a Pulitzer Prize by lowering your standards. Strive high. Bad writing is bad writing and if given the choice between Perez Hilton and Paul Theroux, I’m going to choose Paul Theroux.
Clearly a few of you missed the “Aabh” joke.
Amberly: I posted this piece because I thought it was an interesting point of discussion as writing moves rapidly into the online publishing world.
Blogging promotes conversation; we are not in any way advising people to lower writing standards, this post was a different take on things — a take on which I wanted to hear your thoughts — hence provoking an open conversation.
Popular blogs — be it travel or Perez Hilton, make money for a reason; obviously the reasons are different, as is the audience — depending on the site.
It’s hard to make money as a travel-writer/blogger. We all want to be able to so that we can leave our dead-end jobs and dedicate our lives to doing what we love…so it’s not surprising that we look at sites like Perez Hilton(maybe not the best example)to see what they are doing right, that helps them pay their bills. Yes, our writing standards are much higher as is the nature of our content, so why shouldn’t we be able to pay our bills from our websites/blogs?
Anyway, I hope this clarifies some things.
An ending note towards a few comments that have intended to bash us: we are here trying our best to help other budding travel-writers by contributing to this blog and sharing our information, resources and experiences in the industry. We encourage you to share your thoughts and debate on what we post, but please, without targeting us like dart boards.
Thank you!
Oh, Lord. “aabh” was supposed to be a joke? Like the original post was sarcasm? Abha, I hope you realize how lucky you are to have such a staunch defender in Nicholas. Seriously.
But WHY the continued Perez Hilton comparisons? Why? He’s not a writer. He’s a person who comments on photos of celebrities. He’s successful at it. But even assuming we can all see the hair-split difference between travel writing and publishing, I still don’t know what that has to do with the topic of this blog. If there ever is a travel blogger who finds success scrawling “llamas are SO over†on photos of Machu Picchu, sure, tell us.
And what does this mean, please: “The web has lowered standards in writing on the web.†That there were higher standards for writing on the web until the web came along? (…mind…implodes…)
Maybe you mean that there exist lower standards for web writing than for non-web writing? Well, as you say yourself, “This isn’t a new observation and it has been written about numerous times before by dozens of publications.†So you’re giving us old news then? The one kernel of use in the article was that it’s all about ideas. So why give us an old idea that “dozens of publications†have hashed to pieces?
Abha, if you wanted to promote conversation, why didn’t you engage with the people who took the time to respond? I think this must be the most replied-to post ever on Written Road. So, what happened? Why do you have to be nudged to respond if you wanted a conversation?
No one is “targeting [you] like dart boards.†Shoot, if people wanted to target you, there have been a LOT of painful spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors committed here that no one has been rude enough to point out.
But in this particular case, where a post was made seeming to delight in the thought that one can be a successful blogger without being a good writer, and then an assertion was made that the post was sarcastic, it tempts some of us to point out bits of carelessness as evidence that the post was not, in fact, sarcastic. Petty, sure, but to a purpose.
This is your blog now; you can post what you want, of course. But you might want to pay attention to the fact that all of your responses seem to have “misunderstood†you in the same way. I hope I am not overstepping. I am speaking only for myself and choosing my interpretation of other people’s comments. I hope if people disagree with me and would like to put forward another point of view, or claim they saw the sarcasm (and maybe point it out to me), that they will do so.
The web standards comment came out wrong. Now, would you like any cheese with your whine? This is the comment list of a blog, not the New Yorker. Quit acting like a typo in a comment box, if that is even what it was, is a big deal. It’s a comment box. That’s it. What I meant was that standards for writing are lower on average on the web. This has been written about loads of times. I’m sorry if that is new to you or it’s rehashed a bit.
As for Perez Hilton, I’m not saying someone should do exactly what he does or that he himself should become a travel blogger, just that their could be a bigger picture out there that could somehow apply to travel blogging. That’s all. I feel it does have something to do with us. If you don’t I’m not forcing you to agree.
Also, you are arguing about my opinion that Abha’s end quote (“nothing else matters”, not the entire post. If you thought I meant the entire post I didn’t. I apologize for not being more clear) on the piece was sarcastic. Who really cares? I saw it as sarcastic. Maybe I’m wrong.
Wow, Nick. You’re not getting what people are saying [i]at all[/i]. Not to mention being kind of a baby about things. “Cheese with your whine?” Really?
I didn’t get that line about web standards either. Make yourself clear if you want to be understood!
Where’s Jen??!!
Really. Cheese with your whine. What? Did I spell wine wrong now? Jen is retired from the site. Deal with it.
I have no problem debating the issues, but seriously, do we knead to knitpick tiepoes in the comment bocks?
Easy for you guys to trash talk when you are anonymous. Leave Written Road alone! If you don’t like the site leave. Some of us actually appreciate it.
Nick’s the only one trash talking here. I’m a bit embarrassed for him, actually. 🙁
Nick and Abha, re. the typo comments, I think you’re missing the point that if you engage a bunch of writers in a discussion about writing quality, they’re going to notice misspellings etc. I don’t think those observations were intended or should be construed as “bashing.” (Although your subsequent defensiveness might have gotten people stirred up a bit 😉
In Nick’s defense, I want to clarify my previous comment, which is what elicited his somewhat confusing “web standards” statement. I should’ve said: I don’t think the growth in online publishing has changed *online* writing standards across the board. This was the basic context in which Abha framed her post: that the “explosion” in online publishing — and blogging in particular — is changing the way people read (i.e., more for information than for style) and is thus changing writing standards. I believe this holds true for blogs (after all, anyone can put up a blog, regardless of writing skills), but not for online magazines or for print newspapers and magazines that also publish online.
Nick, I don’t get your insistence that this site has never been solely about travel writing and your hair splitting over “writing” versus “publishing.” However you want to define these words, the fact remains that, according to the “About Written Road” page, the site is a “resource for travel writers” and “provides a daily scoop on travel writing.”
On the whole, this post has generated a lot of interesting points for discussion, and I appreciate Abha bringing it up. I’d love to see more discussion about blogging vs. writing for web pubs vs. writing for print pubs. Where do Written Road readers focus their attention and efforts? Do factors other than money influence those choices? How important do they think blogging is for their own careers?
Amberly, thank you for having a clear argument and for the follow up questions. We will defintely look into them. Much appreciated. As we mentioned previously we are completly redesigning the site. I don’t have a date when everything will be finished, but I think most will be pleased. We are listening to everything everyone says and we want the site to change for the better. any suggestions please let us know. We do have typos, mispellings, and even the occasional misconstrued thought from time to time. But you have to understand, that this site is something we do in are very rare free time, we aren’t paid a cent, so occasionally things are rushed. If you see something that is wrong let us know and we can fix it. Some people do and we appreciate it.
I’m not going to get too far into this, but the site has always mentioned blogs and other forms of travel media outside of strict travel writing. It is “the Inside Scoop to the Travel Publishing World.” Blogging is a form of writing and when Jen was here new blogs were mentioned all the time too. I realize that Perez Hilton has absolutely nothing to do with travel blogs directly, but he was just used as an example as how some blogs are able to not just earn buckets of money, but attract a large following. It’s a stretch in regards to travel writing, I know.
I wish no one had ever mentioned typos because I think you’ve been using that as an excuse not to address the real substance of people’s posts, which is a shame.
“We are listening to everything everyone says and we want the site to change for the better. any suggestions please let us know.â€
The site looks fine. What’s missing is the spark Jen gave to it. Jen posted useful tips and practical advice, but it was all wrapped up in her personal experience. I came here to find out, “What’s Jen doing? How is her career going? What has she tried and is it working? Can I try it too? How does she integrate her work life and her personal life?
When you mention the subtitle “the Inside Scoop to the Travel Publishing World,†you’ve been focusing on the negligible difference between travel writing and travel publishing, but you’ve been ignoring the inside scoop part. Jen gave us the inside scoop. She told us what it was like to be a working writer building up a career.
She didn’t get paid a cent either, but she built this blog up and she kept it useful and entertaining, and when she got too busy for it, she passed it on. Now we get the outside scoop: some impersonal post every week or so pointing us toward a job listing that we could have found for ourselves.
Abha, you are living in Spain! Wow! Tell us about that. What’s it like? Does it inspire you? Is it giving you topics to write about? Are you meeting anyone? What are you submitting? Is there an English-language paper where you are that might be interested in your work? Have you thought about using your position to maybe go after guidebook work about your region? Do you think of guidebooks as writing?
Nick, you say you live in Peru and NYC! Again, wow! So, how often do you go back and forth? Do you take notes a lot when in Peru (or NYC) and does your wife mind? Do you find that this type of arrangement is helpful to your writing (publishing) career, or hurtful, or neutral? Do you ever think that because you live in Peru at times, that you see it as home and you don’t pay as much attention to it from a travel writer’s perspective, or does it give you an in-depth look that helps you? You have published travel guides, so I’m thinking the second one… tell us about it. How did you get your travel guides published? How often do you have to update? What’s involved? Is it worth it?
Please… don’t just say, “Jen’s gone, deal with it.†Her name is still connected to this blog all over the Internet. If you won’t consider this suggestion for the sake of what readers you have left, consider it for hers.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that out. Seriously, we do appreciate it. I agree with most of what you said. We have realized that the blog isn’t personal enough, which is why we are working so hard on the redesign. It hasn’t really felt like our blog, so we are taking steps to make it our blog and hopefully the “Inside Scoop” will be more apparent. Just to be clear though, you aren’t going to find Jen here even though her name might be tied to it around the web. we are not Jen nor are we trying to be. (Although we love Jen!)
zomg, we know Jen is gone. I’m just saying this blog still reflects on her.
Another question/topic suggestion – Nick, don’t you write for Suite101? How’s that working out for you? There is lots of debate out there as to whether it’s worth it. Is it? Are you making money? Learning anything? Making connections? Is being a Suite101 writer enough to get you on press trips?
Maybe your new format should have a Q&A section.
We\’re working out the kinks for the new sections, but a Q&A might work. We have alot of ideas being tossed around right now, some of which will include outside writers.
I\’ve actually been planning on writing something about the pros and cons of writing for sites like Suite101, About.com, and a few other similar sites when we get WrittenRoad redesigned.
Regarding my own experience at Suite101, I earn about a $1 a month per article with my topic (South America Travel), which isn\’t exactly the most sought after topic on the web. Some people earn more per article. Some less. You also have to consider that this is an amount that I\’ll get every month year after year. It may not seem like much, but it adds up.
When I first started they paid by page view and I really didn\’t make anything and was tempted to quit. They changed to giving a percentage of google ads last year though and the pay has been much better.
I can\’t say what anyone else makes, although I know there are some writers with 300 topics or more that earn over $1000 a month. Would I earn more with my own site? Yes. But you don\’t have to mess with the design, Suite101 is very aggresive in helping the sites get optimized, you get a decent training on the basics of SEO, html, writing for the web, etc. I spend maybe 5 hours a month on the site. Plus, you get to keep the rights and if you ever decide to create your own site you can use the articles (although I think there is a 1 year grace period or something like that).
As for press trips…I’m sure some have, but I haven’t tried. Book reviews, yes. I can admit though I have made some decent connections with other writers there. Also, considering that these kinds of sites are so google maximized I have gotten a few really good assignments from just editors searching the web.
Wow.
If this blog wasn’t in my feed reader, I’d have stopped reading a long time ago. Somewhere around the end of Jen’s tenure, this became the personal life and poker blog, and I completely lost interest. Here Abha makes the slightest of deviations from what the regulars consider travel writing related, and people are confused about what this has to do with them? If this is a travel writer’s resource, then shouldn’t it be slightly less personal? If I wanted to know what kind of phone Jen used, then I’d go over to her blog to read about her new Blackjack II (oh lord, more gambling related content? Now I’m just confused).
When I read sites like Written Road, I read because I want to learn about making money with words. Anyone who chooses to ignore audience as an integral part of the income earning equation is going to be in for a heap of trouble. You can hold on to your ideals and standards all you want, but unless you’re writing for a similar-minded audience, you’re going to end up falling on your own swords. The web is an entirely different medium from what most people are used to, and unless you’re willing to change and adapt, you will be left behind. I’d much rather read a poorly written engaging article, than a well written bore.
If you can’t see how what people like Perez Hilton are doing ties in with the greater scheme of things in the writing world, then I have to wonder what you’re looking for. Travel writers can not afford to remain an isolated subset of the writing world. Content is content, no matter where it comes from. You have to understand the idea that writing for different mediums requires different approaches, and that there can be value in learning what is working in another medium like blogs.
“has absolutely nothing to do with us” [Amberly] Thank you for speaking for me. I’m glad you have chosen to be a voice of the general readership. Or is that just the three or four of you so incensed by this post? I’ll kindly ask you to keep your ‘us’ to yourself.
Something to be kept in mind is that Nick and Abha are working in industries that require a lot of time on a huge variety of different tasks. A minute part of their day is spent addressing concerns raised here. They may be slow to respond, or *gasp* have misspellings, but the comment section of a blog post is not a formal forum for debate. You may have time to compose, rewrite, and edit your zingers, but for Nick and Abha, this is likely just something they’re trying to keep on top of. I’m actually impressed at their level of commitment to trying to mollify the group here. Many bloggers would simply post an official response or two and then let the comments fizzle out on their own.
That’s all I got. I have 57 unread items in my reader (a slow Sunday morning), and I’ll need about 5 minutes to skip through the likely well written, but ultimately uninspiring content.
It’s time for a drink. So stop sweating so hard, and if you’d like, I’ll stand you all for a beer in Goa.
Are we missing the point here, of ‘connecting’?
There is no right or wrong here, so Nick, dear night in shining amour {‘sarcastic’ pun intended}, take it easy, and lay away your cutlass. We writers are a funny, whimsical lot and will offer advice and corrections in the strangest of places. Not to mention beer. As they say in India- WE ARE LIKE THAT ONLY.
I sure appreciate AAAAaaabh’s – and your- benevolent attempts at reaching out to other hapless hacks, albeit with your take on the whole word thing, blog or published or whatever.
You must truly feel grateful to the huge number of responders{sic?} who have taken the time and made the effort to comment and connect with your Written Road universe. If that is not what a writer or blogger lives for- to involve, enthuse and connect people; and to listen- then it is time to buy your own beer in a place far away from Goa.
Anyway, I’m buying only the first one, just so all of us remember that this is a writer’s resource site, and the principle of give and take will operate if you want interaction, as in a ‘speakeasy’ as opposed to preaching, for which I’d rather go to church {maybe a lovely one in Goa}.
Yes… I too would rather read an interesting thing that’s poorly written than a boring thing that’s well written.
But I would rather read a boring thing that’s well written than a boring thing that’s poorly written.
And I would *really* rather read an interesting thing that’s well written than a boring thing that’s poorly written.
I think all anyone was saying was that it’s not a good idea to give up trying to write well just because people might accept less than the best. People don’t *want* sloppy writing, they are *willing to overlook* sloppy writing *if* the content is worthwhile.
Defining good writing is a chore because the definition is fluid. It changes depending on your audience, your need, your medium.
I wrote about this on my blog (https://www.richthewriterguy.com/wbb/2008/03/25/what-is-good-writingwhat-is-good-writing/ ) [NOTE to Abha: I’m new to blogging so if mentioning my blog isn’t kosher, just cut this paragraph out, with my apologies. Thanks!]
And cool link to the London School of Journalism’s distance learning stuff. I’ve been thinking that would be something I’d like to get into. I’m checking it out.
Rich
Gee – I better spell check this before I submit! I am amazed at the amount of debate, on what appeared to me, to a be a reasonable post. I left confused though about what is travel writing.
I have always been a voracious reader, I dreamt of writing a novel as a teenager, as you do, and even enrolled in a distance eduction course on writing a long time ago. You see a loved to travel and though that maybe I could write about it. It never came to anything of course because back in the 80’s if you didn’t know how to pitch to editors you weren’t going to get published
Now I get paid to write for a travel blog. Apparently, according to the above discussion, this is not REAL travel writing, but it feels real to me, I have freedom of choice as to what I write about, I don’t have an editor asking me change my style, I get paid a decent amount for the time involved? So what exactly is travel writing?