How do you judge whether someone is a good writer?

I like writers who use a lot humour and self-irony, and I like writers who "play" with the words. I am reading a novel at the moment. I like the story, but I don't like the way it is written. The author uses very few full stops and few spaces, it is like one long paragraph. It hard to read it and I miss a place where my eyes can rest. In my opinion it is not enough to write a good story, it is also important that it is reader friendly. I love reading stories or posts that are well-written, but it is even more important that the topic catches my attention.

A good writer is the one who writes to the point without there being ambiguity, paying attention to grammar and spelling. Quality rather than quantity would be my choice.

A good writer - in the first instance is someone who feels satisfied that s/he has communicated well. And of course there is the reader. It is important that the reader is touched, inspired and moved by the writing. Choice of language, good grammar, formatting and spirit help bring the reader and writer to the same page (pardon the pun). As the poet said "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" so is good writing. Thank you for raising a topic that inspires introspection.

I'd judge a writer by both their decent English and by their coherent organization of ideas. Because if there's no decent English and proper grammar, the written output would make no good sense and would not properly be understood. And on the other hand, if there's no coherent organization of ideas, well, ideas of the written output would be jumbled and, again, it would not be properly understood. A good writer also is well inspired from his or her surroundings, and is good at observing what's happening around him or her, like what you said. He or she also expresses and organizes his or her ideas well, with good choices of words and diction. He or she writes things that really appeal to the reader, and that the reader would also surely think that he or she is a good writer.

Here in MYLOT, those who keep on writing simple and short are the good ones for me. Since I am still in the process of learning and recording new words with their meanings I prefer that type. I admire those people whose english is not their mother tongue but they knew billions of vocabularies and they know how to use it. of course, they are my favorites. Those who often writes and answers with a lot of inspirational quotes attracts me. And those who often writes and answers with the use of idiomatic expressions stimulates my mind and find exactly what does it brings.

Nobody can be classified as a good or bad writer because we all like different things.I am sure that no matter how one is liked and read there will always be somebody who to say that this person is not a good writer.I personally like different things and as long as the story moves me I like and its author.

I don't judge. I wouldn't know how. I know what type of writing I enjoy and it may not be good but that is not up to me to decide and it doesn't mean that I should not read it. I enjoy reading something that comes across in a fun manner and keeps me engrossed in what I am reading, even causing emotions. Many times I have smiled, laughed and even shed a tear when I am reading something here. It might be a long or a short post and it might be in 'perfect' or imperfect English, that doesn't seem to make much difference. As long as it entices me into continuing to read then I will do so - and even come back for more when I see that particular author again!

If I am able to read posts with ease,smoothly without any hiccups,just like a flow of river and at end of it feel light hearted and relieved, then I consider the writer of the post a good one.Whatever may be size of the post, it should look like over in a flash as if he talked in front of us eloquently.We should not get reminded of it again when we go to the next post.

i think you have to be able to grab other attention or have them feel what you are feeling when you write. with me i love to write. and i write songs and when i write something and someone tell me wow that made me feel sad or i can relate to that. like i wrote a song called "the hands that loves her" its a song about an abuse woman and what she feels from a her point of view. when i let my females friends hear it and they are like that is just how i felt and they cant belive that a man wrote it from their point of veiw. or my other song called " mr music man" which i wrote about my mom after she had passed away and i was listening to the radio one night and a song came on and it made me cried. and i have guys freinds who are the toughest guys you will ever meet, but they tell me the song makes them cry everytime they hear because that how they feel after loosing thier mom or how they would feel.

As for me, I can say that a person is a good writer if he catches my attention on his works. He makes me mesmerized on his works to the extent of wanting to finish his whole work with just one sitting.I love to read a certain work if it talks of something which is true, clear and worthwhile to read. Works that clearly shows prejudices is disgusting on me. I also love it when the author uses words which are not so complicated. It is a good thing if the author knows how to touch his reader's heart on what he writes. Having a wide range of vocabulary words of the author helps the reader to imagine what is he trying to say.

I think that grammer is very important but writing is like any other art..it is appreciated on different levels by different people. So what is good for me may not be so to someone else. I think that being able to create emotion and environment with words makes a good writer. I also think that attention to detail can make a story either wonderful or dull depending on the creativity of description.

Hi Chenxiayue, This is an interesting question here. Well, for me a good writer is someone who can make you relate to his writings. There are people who use unusual vocabulary and go on narrating a particular event but at the end of it I feel like i have been robbed off my time that I devoured in reading his work. For example you may try to read the Red Fox by Anthony Hyde. Gosh! No sense at all. Then there are some writers who may have written something 200 years back but still the description of human characters are so apt that you can relate them with your everyday acquaintances. If you have read Bleak House then almost every character could be compared with someone you know. There are some Indian writers whom I have read. The way they have set simple plain experiences of everyday life in equally simple meaningful words is truly amazing. Reading R.K.Narayan is an experience in itself. So a good writer is someone to me who can make me laugh, feel sorry for some character he portrayed,make me cry bitterly, even perhaps a short story writer who has the audacity to keep you guessing and making you to want more like Katherine Mansfield.

Personally, I think that having a good command of English is not the only ingredient of being a good writer. It has to have a good theme, and how the words are grouped properly in paragraph. There should be continuity. Most especially, a good writer has to convey its message to its reader clearly.

i think a good writer is that who can explain himself can present his views clearly that other can understand it only by reading

based on the coverage of subject and the detaisl of the topic explained we can judge the writer

A good writer is one who develops his/her ideas well. A good writer communicates in a manner that flows easily, with the necessary clarity and coherence required to make a good piece. It takes practice, dedication and much passion to become a good writer because expressing oneself is not a task that can be undertaken by just about anyone. It's like opening oneself out to others; it is also a reflection of one's thoughts and opinions on certain things, delivered in such a way where the reader can absorb the topic, and relate to what is being written about.

Hello friend!! hope this finds you well. I like your post and find it inspiring to encourage and self motivate myself to do good and contribute with quality. Fist of all I am not going to pretend that I am an authority at writing, on the contrary I am way far from being one. In response to your question, I think all skills must be considered together, coherence, mechanics, factual content, technique. A write, must be aware of his/ her audience and purpose for the writing piece. There has to be an object and goal it seeks to reach. A good writer applies all mentioned and ultimately moves the masses and gains the results and beyond through writing.

I take it easy. For a literature write, My judgement only base on whether his/her compositions fit my taste. I don't care how famous he/she is, what awards he have got, even Nobel Prize. What do these do with me? According your arctile, maybe you like to know how we judge an article, what is important among word chosen, story plot... I think all of them must be not too bad, and one or more perform excellent, that will be a good composition.

In my opinion, it is not by the amount of 'big' and 'long' words that she knows, not the length of what he writes, or the amount of technicalities that she knows. I believe that being a good writer is simply having a connection with the readers -- if people like it, you are one.