Whats more important good story or perfect writing?

[Beamer]

It seems like, as I read through various posts about many books or authors, I find some readers are more interested in finding flaw in technique or style of writing rather then the story itself. I read to escape reality. To me its all about the story. I lose myself in the story and if perhaps the author did not paint the perfect picture or completely show us a characters thoughts and motivations, who cares. Isn't that what our imagination is for.

 

[Yuoaman]

They need a good balance of both, if they have a wonderful story, but can't write a coherent sentence I would be unable to read it, but on the flip side, even if the writing is perfect, if there is no story I will find myself drifting to other works.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Well, given that old Shakespeare wouldn't pass many English exams today (*1) yet his tales seem to retain a modicum of public appeal I would suggest the story is the most important part.

Take Huck Finn by old Mark Twain which I find unreadable yet it's a rattling good yarn and some people seem to rate it as worthy.

*1 Why is it that the education system in the UK would prefer that young people are taught this completely out of date stuff. There are plenty of modern works with just as much moral instruction and social dilemmas which they would enjoy more and could relate to.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You were looking for moral instruction in Shakespeare? No wonder you weren't impressed!

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I found nothing...

Ahaha a Shakespearean joke. But yes, Teresa has an excellent point. There's little to be found of morals in Shakespeare and more of...well, sex and violence and the human heart in conflict with itself. The exact same stuff that makes an excellent and worthy story, but not something I would call moral instruction.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Isn't that what our imagination is for.

As a writer, I'm not going to put off the responsibility on my readers. I give them the best that my imagination has to offer and tell the story as well as I can, and then, yes, I would hope that their imaginations would take over from there. But I find, as a reader myself, that my imagination is more stimulated by good writing, and that those moments in a story that stay with me for years and years and years always involve passages that are skillfully written.

The question, as far as I am concerned, is why do a wonderful story the injustice of a sloppy execution?

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

You were looking for moral instruction in Shakespeare? No wonder you weren't impressed!

I found nothing...

Ahaha a Shakespearean joke. But yes, Teresa has an excellent point. There's little to be found of morals in Shakespeare and more of...well, sex and violence and the human heart in conflict with itself. The exact same stuff that makes an excellent and worthy story, but not something I would call moral instruction.

No, I enjoy Shakespeare as performance art. Reading it - not my cup of tea.

I think there are moral judgements to be drawn from some of the plays.

Don't cheat on you husband - especially if he's king of the fairies for instance.

or

If you can't keep you sword in your scabbard then it will all end in tears - especially if she happens to be fourteen and have a brother and they come the other side of the tracks.

to name just a couple.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Don't cheat on you husband - especially if he's king of the fairies for instance.

Or more commonly: Be as virtuous as anything and your husband/fiance will still think you cheated on him.

Although in the case of Oberon and Titania, I think the moral is: In a custody battle, always resort to dirty tricks.

 

[j d worthington]

Or more commonly: Be as virtuous as anything and your husband/fiance will still think you cheated on him.

Although in the case of Oberon and Titania, I think the moral is: In a custody battle, always resort to dirty tricks.

Land of Unreason, anyone?

And SW has it right, I'd say: Shakespeare is more about the human heart in conflict with itself than about promulgating morality. That really wasn't nearly as important with the Elizabethans (or their heirs) as it became with others a good deal later on (take a look at the Restoration writers, for example....)

As for the initial question: why on earth does one have to choose between good writing and a good tale? Shouldn't the latter also include the former? (The reverse is not always the case, of course; though in the best such cases, the very writing makes a tale that in itself is dull interesting because of its insights and abilities to truly explore the human condition.) The better the writing, the better any tale will be, as this can only enhance the effect. On the other hand, even the best tale (or plot, if you prefer) can be completely botched by poor writing....

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I do agree Shakespeare is much more enjoyable performed rather than read, but so is any play.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Or more commonly: Be as virtuous as anything and your husband/fiance will still think you cheated on him.

Although in the case of Oberon and Titania, I think the moral is: In a custody battle, always resort to dirty tricks.

LOL.

J. D.

Yes they should go together, though I think I would rather read a good yarn than read a perfectly crafted book on the life of the potato.

So if there is a choice, give me a good story and I'll forgive a few misplaced commas. Although, it could also be argued that the publisher/editor has a role to play here. After all anyone can print a book,(semi joke) publishing companies should surely have to do something for their pound of flesh. I know some do, however, over the years I've read books that were complete dross. So something isn't right in the state of Denmark.

 

[woodsman]

Sorry but I can't believe someone would take Shakespear out of school? Half the everyday phrases in our language seem to come from his work. Personally I loved studying the plays; reading and watching, in many ways that was my high point of english lessons (alongside the introduction to Steinbeck).

Anyways, I have to say a good story will carry me past poor technique as my imagination tends to carry me away any case.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Like most have indicated all ready, I also seek out books that do a well enough job in presenting both a compelling story and, in the least, a decent execution. That being said, I believe, if given the choice I would take the story-telling aspect over the writing aspect. I think I can overlook terrible/amateur writing if the ideas and plot are compelling enough but I wouldn't be able to get through some of the grandest writing ever put on paper if the story was uninteresting and boring.

 

[Fried Egg]

This is quite a leading question.

Imagine if it had been phrased thusly:

Whats more important, a perfect story or good writing?

 

[BookStop]

They go hand in hand; can't have one without the other. It also depends on what you mean when you say 'writing'.

If you are just talking about punctuation and sentence structure, then I suppose some could get past the mistakes and still enjoy the story. I could not, however, and find bad grammar interrupts the story more than I can stand. A couple of small errors are normal, but continued bad comma use or spelling mistakes, and I'll put the book back where I found it.

If you are talking about uninteresting descriptions, bad prose, and dialog that makes unreasonable jumps to further the story, well, I don't care how good the story might be, or how many praises it's gotten, I'll drop it even faster than if the grammar is all over the place.

So, I guess it doesn't matter what you mean by 'writing' after all. If it's not well written, I won't bother.

 

[j d worthington]

I'd say Bookstop hit the nail on the head there. Bad writing interferes with the reader's ability to visualize characters and situations, as well as simply making even the most interesting things boring -- because it fails to communicate well.

This is different from "elegant" writing, of course, which is quite another thing. As far as the grammar and punctuation goes... it all depends on how bad it is. Again, if it truly is atrocious, it completely interferes with communicating what the writer wishes to convey, confusing all the information; and that can kill any idea, no matter how good.

Perfect writing... I don't think there is such a thing; or, rather, it could probably be done by a computer. I believe it was Hemingway that once said something to the effect that it's the errors -- the way one departs from the grammarian's "ideal" -- that make up a writer's style and, to some extent, I think I'd have to agree....

 

[Connavar]

Good Story is always more important to me than writing ability.

Great writing is fun,interesting but pointless without a good story. Of course the same about bad writing ruins any story.

But overall story is more important. You can read writing that you think are bad sometimes but still you keep reading because the storytelling balances over with its quality.

Thats why you read the Stephen Kings of the world....

 

[mosaix]

That's like asking "What's more important, oxygen or water?"

You need both.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Well as for spelling mistakes thats just the norm for us over here in the UK. We have to put up with all those deliberate one the US publishers insist on. If you read a book in English then we get used to them. You know the ones

artefact - artifact,
ensure - insure,
colour -color,
disc - disk.

I could go on. Now once you get used to the fact that these differences are scattered through the book you're reading, the other odd genuine mistake takes on less significance.

So back to the plot

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'll forgive a few misplaced commas.

But a misplaced comma can alter the whole meaning of a sentence. The person writing the sentence knows what he/she is trying to say, so it may not seem like such a big deal, but if the reader says "Huh?" and has to go back and reread the sentence, that's a break in the story. Too many distractions of that sort, and it's hard to stay involved.

It's the same with poor plotting and characterization. Every time I find myself thinking, "How did that happen?" or "Why, by all that's holy, did he do that?" I'm distracted from the story.

With good characterization, the characters can surprise you, but they never leave you dumbfounded. Even when they do the unexpected, it makes sense. Bad characters, on the other hand, tend to be puppets dancing to the writer's tune. Once you know what the writer has in mind for them (and with bad writing, a lot of things get telegraphed) they become predictable. They also, usually, become very, very stupid, walking right into every obvious trap the author sets for them, because it will advance the story. Characters who are stupid and predictable bore me, annoy me, and insult my intelligence. And when that happens I don't feel as though I am reading a good story.