What Separates Good Writers from Bad Ones

When somebody asks what separates good writers from bad ones, I have to laugh. That sentence in itself is poorly structured. There is a clue for you. I was recently asked this question. The question was posed as a potential applicant to a writing position. The person asked me if they should be a writer. They showed me some of their work and asked, "What separates a good writer from a bad one?" Then they asked, "Is writing for me?" Let's take a look at some of the things that separate good writers from bad ones.

Poor Grammar

The very first thing that you have to understand as a writer is that you will have to edit most of your work at first. This is true for online writers almost all of the time. If you get signed on with a reputable company, then you will have an editor that is assigned to you. This helps you to catch the mistakes that you have made, so you are free to write in a manner that is creatively interesting and informative. Meanwhile, you're going to have to do your own editing. That means that you have to understand what good grammar is, so you can avoid poor grammar. If you understand what good grammar is, then your work is going to look better and be more interesting. Poor grammar tends to lose your audience right away. I think it has something to do with credibility. When the reader comes across something that is poorly written that has poor grammar, they immediately leave thinking that you must not know what you are talking about. It's just bad for business.

Interesting Subjects

When you write you have to be interesting. That means that you have to have good subjects to write about. Trust me when I say that as a writer, you're going to come across those subjects that absolutely bore you to tears. If that happens to you, then the best thing to do is try to find an angle that is better. That takes the assignment from boring to interesting. Interesting subjects are everywhere. You just have to know how to find them. Your job as a writer is to find the angle and hook the audience in.

Writers are born

If you are a writer, then you have done this since you were a child. It isn't just a sudden decision that appeared out of nowhere. This is something that you are a natural at. The grammar and structure will come with training. Get some of that under your belt. The truth is, that most decent jobs as a writer in the real world, will actually assign an editor to you. You write and they edit. That is what you should consider if you have wondered "is writing for me?"