How do you know if what you’re writing is good – and why is it so difficult to know? Most of us have experienced the oscillation between doubt and delusion, when a piece is great in the morning then terrible by suppertime. Even professionals question their judgment when trying something a little different or more ambitious.
The problem is the sheer subjectivity of the question. ‘Good’ is such a moving target. There must be some rational way to approach the matter and know to some persuasive degree whether your work is good rather than ambiguously and amorphously ‘feeling’ that maybe it’s good.
What is good?
As I say: a moving target. ‘Good’ is better than everyone else in your writing group. Good is published. Good is successful. Good is prizewinning or history-making. It’s Lee Child and it’s James Joyce. All of which doesn’t help much.
You need to decide whatanalyse exactly what makes her good for you. Likewise with James Joyce or Virginia Woolf. This means learning to read as a writer.
