Yesterday at Writer Unboxed, the title of a post by author and literary agent Donald Maass caught my attention.
“Beautifully Written.”
When I worked at a literary agency, we used those two words to describe many of the books we represented, both fiction and non-fiction. Though it may sound cliché, it wasn’t. In order to represent a book, we had to feel that it truly was beautifully written.
Defining something as subjective as beautifully written makes me think of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s now famous quote on pornography. He said he could never intelligibly define it, but “I know it when I see it.”
That’s how I feel about beautiful writing. I have a hard time defining it, but I know it when I see it. Mr. Maass does better. He says, “For me, beautifully written has come to be not just a nice extra (when you get it) but a critical component of high-impact fiction.”
In my comment on the post, I wrote that my writing goals are 1) To complete my novel, and 2) Finish with a completed novel that is beautifully written. Sometimes it feels like those goals clash and my frustration builds. When that happens, I need to pull back and remember that “finished” and “beautifully written” are one in the same for me.
Guidance like that found in Mr. Maass’s post will help in reaching my goals. In his new series on Writer Unboxed, he will be discussing the ways in which novels can be beautifully written, starting with creating parallels.
To read the post, visit Writer Unboxed » Beautifully Written.
Creative Commons image by Christopher Cornelius on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
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