How Editors Know if Your Writing Is Good

Myself included...STOP WATCHING VIDEOS AND JUST WRITE YOUR STORY!

Good writing makes you want to read more, it's as simple as that.

If you want a clear explanation, don't ask an editor.

As an editor, I completely agree with everything they said. As a writer, there is not a single actionable piece of advice in here. I can't believe how useless this video is.

Just don't let the pressure of living up to "writer identity" overtake you. Your worth isn't contingent on whether or not you're a succesful writer. Your worth is beyond talent or success; the validation of literary praise is welcome but don't make it your pride-supply. You serve the craft; the craft doesn't serve you. And the craft, in turn, serves others. C.S. Lewis said it well: "Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words." ^^

Great writing reveals a hidden truth about the human condition that we already intuitively knew. Also, great writing does three things: it touches the head, the heart, and the ear.

How editors know if your writing is good - for a couple of minutes. Then they go off and talk about how editors create articles that trick you into reading the story with a misleading lead - exactly what they are doing with this video. The video is not about how editors know if your writing is good, only the first few minutes is. What these folks, in print and video, are actually doing is taking from the good will they would otherwise have with their audience. When that tank is empty they lose their audience and then wonder why they cannot get the clicks they need to, as they put it, pay the bills. This video is a great example of what these folks are complaining about. In the speakers' defense they did not title the article, but some editor did.

To the question about whether a book is great because it's read by a LOT of people: There are more people eating McDonald hamburgers that Filet Mignon - but does that make it "good cooking"?

Its a worrisome thought to come to the realization that a brilliant writer could be shot down if editors are not able to understand their work.

You can tell if a singer has a beautiful voice within 3 seconds. If she has proper technique within 10 seconds. But it takes a couple of minutes to see if she has a spectrum of technique and emotion. You cannot tell if something is great in seconds. Only if it isn't great.

Anyone else distracted by the tension between the guests?

How editors know if your writing is good: "I don't know, it's really just an instinct." This video is profoundly useless.

I feel, Charlotte Gill, gave the best response in the beginning of this video as she spoke about what draws her in, what causes her to lose herself. I find the same is true for me. Can I forget who I am, where I am, and am I losing myself in your (writer's) reality? I want to. Surely, I want to. I also feel, if you want to be a writer, and it is so easy, in the sense of, Amazon, and others, that we can now self-publish and therefore, are easily washed away in a stream.

8 lines does make sense in this context. If writing is bad you could tell quickly. But lots of readers are commenting they stop reading a book after 8 sentences. Published books are different and have already gone through some quality control. It's more about whether the book is for you or not.

The amount of people commenting about the use of Non-fiction is annoying. You can be transported to another "world" in true stories. If I'm reading a true account of WWII, I want to feel like I'm there on the battlefield. "Another world" doesn't have to mean Mars. Use a little thought people...

In reading screenplays it's called the "hook". Something catches your attention, interest, etc., and you want to know more about the story, plot, and how characters go through the journey.

It's impossible to tell early on if a story is good or not unless it really is written poorly. I got the book The Girl On The Train a couple of years ago purely based on its success and the fact that I overheard a few people speak highly of it. For the most part I thought it was uninteresting and slow moving but I read and kept reading until the end. The last fifty or sixty really made the story. Those last number of pages brought it all together and turned a poor to average book into a great book in my opinion. There are other books that I have read which also work in this way so until a book is completely read it cannot be completely judged.

My gut statement is that no, not everyone is a writer. Most humans can communicate and do so with words. But a writer, in the way they are talking, is a much different thing.

lmao omg the look on Charlotte's face when Victor talks about some of the stuff he does. Especially when talking about the word pay rate and patron stuff. She likes him as much as I do.

Yeah not a great conversation. I think if you read a lot you can tell bad writing almost instantly. Yeah, first 8 sentences is about right. I give books 100 pages and then Im out, if It's bad. I think people will look for what they like and pay for what they like whether printed or online. Just keep reading and writing folks, and improve your craft. Make sure the quality is there before you start looking for payment and exposure.