What’s the Subject and Why is it so Important?

To be completely honest… terrible writing.

As a writer, no, let me correct that, as a hard-working writer who is proud of her work, I can’t say the same for everyone in the writing world, and it saddens me.

Unfortunately, through recent experiences, the quality of writing I’ve seen is bringing down the validity of our profession.

What am I talking About Specifically?

Poor:

• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Flow
• Run-on sentences
• Sentence structure

I am a Reedsy judge for their weekly short story contest, as well as holding short story contests of my own. I wish I were exaggerating when I tell you that approximately 3/4 of the stories I read are so poorly written, that they’re so difficult to follow, that many times I need to give up reading them.

I’ve copied and past4ed them into my Grammarly Premium and not one (of the Reedsy entries, plus a few from my contests) have fewer than 35 errors. Many have upwards of 250 errors… In a 1,000 word story.

To me, this is unacceptable. How someone can submit something of that quality saddens me.

Imagine if you Will:

going to a doctor, dentist, lawyer who don’t know even the basics of their profession?

• Would you go to them?
• Would you trust them?
• Would you speak highly of them?

I doubt it.

“But, I’m a Good Writer” You Say?

• You may have good ideas, but have you used editing software to know for sure?
• Have you read your story out loud?
• Have you read your story out loud to someone else?
• Have you handed your work to someone for feedback BEFORE you entered a contest or self-published?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO, then I’d like to STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you do so.

We should always strive to learn, grow, improve. It doesn’t matter if you’re a full-time writer or a writing weekend warrior that writes as a hobby. QUALITY MATTERS.

Poor writing without trying to improve trying to improve with each story you write is disrespectful to your reader. You should be proud of your writing and put forth high quality work that tells people who you REALLY are.

Putting your soul into your writing and also making sure it is mistake free and polished is the best gift you can give to the reading world.

Thank you for reading this post and I wish you nothing but success.

Happy Writing! Gina

P.S. If you’d like to improve your writing, and or receive guidance as you navigate your way through a novel, I’d be happy to help.

Contact me, as I’m also a Writing Coach who specializes in helping writers to write their first novel.

Happy New Year!