Can you have a good story without good writing?

I think that's possible. Nowadays, being a writer have its own perks and non-perks. Nowadays, a writer don't just write. They have to promote their work, promote on sites, give out links to people in social sites, find a publisher for those wanting to publish a book, go for book meet, have a bit of PR in them and many, many more. It's like being a celebrity in their own right and the work is just a lot. Unless a writer has become so successful - (and I think they have their own people to do the nitty-gritty work), the not yet successful writers have to do their own brand of marketing, PR and whatnot themselves. When I go to bookstores and I look at certain books by different writers like say for instance self-help books, the writings I noticed are not so good a story or detailed enough. And some of those writings are something that I could derive myself by having a common sense. But these are sometimes successful writers, so what's the secret? I think a writer is like a storyteller. Everyone loves to hear a story; be it bad or good. And surprisingly, non good writing can also be under the top list. Why? Maybe very good promotion, good marketing and a whole lot of other strategies. No examples/names to quote, but I'm not surprised if it ever happens. This is my personal take on this topic on a general term.

I would have to agree with you. That's why the position of EDITOR was created. LOL I believe a writer should write the story and then go back to make sure the story is what they want portrayed. For example: If you have a run on sentence as long as you can read the sentence and it says what you mean why would you change the sentence structure that would be an editor's job. I am confident that sentence said what I meant, even though the reader may have to infer. If you are a reader that gets distracted by grammer, then you need to make your writing perfect and be sure to get an editing job. lol Personally, I feel you need to know some grammar. It helps make the sentences flow better. However, if you don't do it perfectly, in the professional world there are people who do that.

well as a reder i hav read really messed up books.. we all have.. but when we grow up we try to avoid badly written books and stick with well written books.. so my idea is a good story is wasted if it doesnt hav good writting. peace

I think you can have a good story without good writing, but the writing distracts from the story if it isn't readable. I think people will probably end up putting the story down if they find the writing distracting or hard to follow. I think you need a good storyteller in order to tell a good story.

I think that's possible. Nowadays, being a writer have its own perks and non-perks. Nowadays, a writer don't just write. They have to promote their work, promote on sites, give out links to people in social sites, find a publisher for those wanting to publish a book, go for book meet, have a bit of PR in them and many, many more. It's like being a celebrity in their own right and the work is just a lot. Unless a writer has become so successful - (and I think they have their own people to do the nitty-gritty work), the not yet successful writers have to do their own brand of marketing, PR and whatnot themselves. When I go to bookstores and I look at certain books by different writers like say for instance self-help books, the writings I noticed are not so good a story or detailed enough. And some of those writings are something that I could derive myself by having a common sense. But these are sometimes successful writers, so what's the secret? I think a writer is like a storyteller. Everyone loves to hear a story; be it bad or good. And surprisingly, non good writing can also be under the top list. Why? Maybe very good promotion, good marketing and a whole lot of other strategies. No examples/names to quote, but I'm not surprised if it ever happens. This is my personal take on this topic on a general term..

I agree with you on this. Some people can write a good story. But not be able to put it in a good sentence. But there are writers out there that can't tell a story to save them. I like reading good stories. Even though I can't write one. Some people can be very talented in that area. I am one this is not good at it.

I honestly don't think you can have a good story without good writing. If you don't know how to write properly, I dont think you can have a good story. You can have the basis of a good story without good writing. Add good writing and the good basics then you will have a great story.

Hi there, I agree that these are two different talents altogether. A person can be a very great and exciting storyteller. Such a person can make an otherwise boring story hilarious or intense simply by the animated way in which they go about telling it. That same person may have no writing talent at all. Others seem better at putting their words to paper.

I think this objective is quite difficult to achieve. Or better not achieved. I mean both are two sides of the same coin and so both need to go hand-in-hand. They are like to tracks of the railway which should remain parralel to each other and more importantly travel together. And if anyone falls apart then most likely, the writing is bound to fall. I think I am better in the latter. I mean in writing good and using good and appropriate words that fit into a jigsaw. But I am immensly lacking the ideas and stories. What should I do?

Yes, there are many in my country who have a talent of writing very interesting stories but lack in the ability to write well. One of them is my friend, whom I am helping with editing his new novel, which he decided to write after getting inspiration from other young authors. My friend is from a vernacular school, he studied all his subjects in his mother tongue which is Marathi till high secondary, so he has a problem framing a good descriptive sentence in English. Though he gets brilliant ideas about how to explain or compare a particular situation with some other one, as done in most of the novels nowadays, he somewhat makes up the huge sentence with grammatical errors or the ones which are very casual and will not suit in a good English novel. He is exceptionally talented in Marathi, according to me, he can be a great writer in Marathi, but he has decided to write his new book in English so that it can reach out to huge mass all across India. So my friend is a living example of a person who has a good interesting story with a little less talent of good language. He has improved considerably in past few months I have to say. Have a nice day.

I think you are absolutely right. I am not a spectacular artist when it comes to the proper composition of writing, but I can tell a good story. I've always got the stories in my head. It is the act of getting them onto paper in the correct composition that is a problem for me. I'd love to be able to write a book, but the problems with that lie in the fact that I would have to have about twenty editors to make everything correct. Now, if I was able to give an audio version of my stories and have someone to transcribe for me I think I would be in good shape.

I must agree with you, as I am one of the prominent representative of the first type of people. It's quite simple for me to write some well-structured reports, I even used to be a journalist in local press, but when the task is to write interesting story (fictional or not) I'm even more than empty. I have a structure, but don't find suitable words to fill this, to make the narrative interesting to my readers. I also know people of the second type. Great storytellers, actors, but when it comes to writing, that's total disaster. It would be perfect to have both qualities in one person, and in my opinion this combination makes real talent. Jolly myLotting!

I sure think it's very possible for one to tell a really good story without being very great at writing. But somehow it all depends. If it were writing in consideration of aesthetics, it could be really impressive to common readers and true blue writers alike but it's the content of the material that would be contested afterward. Sometimes, great writers tell great stories but some just mask the lack in plot creativity with very well done sentence construction and idea cohesion. Some great storytellers use very simple expression and yet impress readers with their stories. The best part with writing stories is the story itself and how it is presented making sure that it reaches out to your target market and that would definitely make your stories sell like pancakes and might leave a really big impact on society. It's mostly on how well one could present the story and express one's self regardless of proficiency in a certain language, though it does help to know a bit more because it makes writing a lot easier and expressing a lot simpler.

I definitely have to agree with you. I think a very good story, or concept for that matter, would still sell or attract attention even with the lack of technical aspects. Ordinary stories however can also be extraordinary with the help of proper construction/writing.

I disagree, with some ifs, ands, and buts. There are people who don't know the difference between good writing and poor writing, so for them, if the story is interesting, that's all that's necessary. But if you've very comfortable with language and do know the difference between good writing and bad, then a poorly written story might just as well not have been written. Poor writing is distracting, it detracts from the effect the writer is trying to create, and it can completely spoil the mood. For instance, I've been reading a fair amount of fan fiction lately, which has been quite an experience. One story wasn't bad, but when I got to the line "...his eyes fluttered to the floor," the effect of what the writer was trying to accomplish disappeared when I started laughing. She meant that his eyelids fluttered and he looked down at the floor, but what came across was someone's eyes falling out of his head and onto the floor. Too many amateurs excuse their lack of writing ability by saying that the story is what's really important. But that ability can be learned. It's hard work and takes a long time, but if a person really cares about their writing, they'll work at it, not make excuses.

hi maybe not but it sure helps in trying to sell your good story if it looks good also. I am not a great grammatist either' but would love to get better at making my writing look good'as well a as read well. its so hard to juggle all these things when you are struck by the muse.you just want to write stuff down while its fresh in your mind.

this is exactly why I put my story out there, for people to give me an insight as to whether or not I can hold their attention with my stuff. I want to publish a book more than anything right now. And I have written a few stories - most of them over 40,000 words. But I just finished a short story and posted it to my site. Its free to download and I would love some advise on improving my writing. If you don't mind checking it out - terrorismfreedom.weebly.com

It's absolutely possible to be a good storyteller but not be able to get your thoughts/ideas down on the paper. That's why there are ghostwriters and editors. People who have dyslexia or other similar learning disorders have trouble getting the words down on the paper in a coherent manner but that doesn't make them any less genius when it comes to telling a story verbally.

I agree. Although it also works the other way. By this I mean a poor story that is written with good sentence structure can still be successful and entertaining.

Hi, I agree. There are tech writers who will be great at crafting an article but may not be able to bring out the depth and senstivity of a story while someone with great story ideas may not have the tech know how of structuring it well enough to grab attention. However, I think it is part of the writer's education to build on strengths and overcoem weaknesses. So, while I may be great at writing in the third person, but my articles are all newsy and not stories, so i feel that I do need to work on putting things correctly and interestingly in the first person. IMHO