I think that good writing is “telepathy” in the words of Stephen King. When I read something I want the writer to capture my attention. I want the writer to intrigue me, put me in a visual mental state so that I can picture his reading. I enjoy reading, but I have to say that I am very picky about the books that I read because if they don’t capture my interest within the first pages then I don’t read the book. The writer needs to capture the reader because that is going to determine whether or not the reader continues to read the book. I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but you can definitely judge a book by its first page. So I believe that it is the writer’s obligation to give the reader something he can grab on to and jumpstart the imagination. That is what I consider good writing.
I think that bad writing is a “dictionary” and a horrible storyline. And when I say dictionary I mean when the writer uses all the most sophisticated words he can find in the dictionary to make his/her writing seem more intellectual. I hate reading books that I can’t even comprehend because the writer decided to put 15-letter words in every sentence. Just because writers have that intellectual mind doesn’t mean they always have to show it off. There is nothing wrong with putting all the cookies on the bottom shelf and making the text easy and enjoyable for the reader. I also hate books that have horrible storylines; it is just a major turn off. If you are a professional writer you should have enough of an imagination to be able to tell an intriguing so a story with a horrible storyline is pretty much a testament to your laziness. For example, the book “The Iliad” was very difficult and uninteresting to read.