Writing Forum

"...we *could* all throw our tuppence into a hat and come up with a list of sorts to identify what makes "good prose," but... that would be dumb. It's not possible to universally agree upon what is good and what is bad."



Weirdo? Uh yeah... well, I know you are, but what am I?

While I might agree with you, Ms. Hawthorne, on your point that we will never universally agree on what is good and bad prose, not you and I especially (pshaw!!, as if), I totally disagree with you, Ms. Hawthorne, if you are saying that it's pointless to discuss the matter in these discussion forums.

And while I might also agree with you again, Ms. Hawthorne, that we will, each and everyone of us, have our own varied individual opinions as to what ultimately constitutes good prose, I also believe we might learn from discussions on the subject amongst ourselves and perhaps even reach some helpful conclusions as to what makes for elements of good prose.

For example, can't we all, each and everyone of us, at least agree that good prose requires the author to have a functionally workable command of the most basic writing fundamentals? Can't we agree that a necessary element of good prose is that it be mechanically sound and sensible, that it be fundamentally accurate and readable? Unless, of course, the author is intentionally deviating from grammatical and structural standards for experimental purposes or other stylistic reasons.

Check this out...

Come on Geraldine said the other girl let us get to moving for now we cannot spend all day here dreaming and passing wasted time I know said Geraldine its too bad really because here I am Just Geraldine and I can be me i know that probably makes completely no sense Geraldine continued no I think I understand that said the girl said lets go Jemma said Geraldine as she put on her hat and jumped off the tree stump that had been her seat. Geraldine was sad to leave the forest she felt she understood the woods more than anything she continually felt no connection with people and that was worse than ever, weeks passed and she continued to spend time alone...

I think we can agree, can we not, that the foregoing bit of prose is downright unreadable? It lacks proper punctuation, grammatical correctness, structural functionality (no paragraphs to break up dialogue, etc.), and when all is said and done it is pretty much nonsensical given it's overwhelming mechanical flaws. So, while it might be later refined through editing and revising into something more narratively sensible, in its current state it is bad prose. And not only can we identify it as bad prose, but we can see why it is bad---it's bad because it's dang-near incomprehensible.

Personally, however, I really do agree with you, Ms. Hawthorne, believe it or not. It is probably not possible to get just two people to agree on what is good and bad prose, much less an entire group of opinionated writers, all of whom have their own varying tastes and interests. But let us remember this is, among other things, a "learning website," a workshop for young aspirants, many of whom are not seeking to engage in grand discussions and debates on who is the best prose smith of all time or which style of writing is most universally entertaining or any such monumentally large and definitive questions---questions, which you have already noted, are not even ultimately answerable.

But a lot of participants here in these forums are, as am I, still trying to find their own writer's voice. They're still trying to figure out whether their own prose is good or bad, and how it sounds to others. And while I can't speak for anyone but myself on this count, I do like to read what others think about the various qualities found in good prose. If for no other reason, when others post material they admire as good or excellent prose, I might just find me some new reading material.

As always, thank you for participating in the discussion, Ms. Hawthorne. Your irascible contrariness is always thought-provoking and much greatly appreciated.