Current Events > What do you consider "good writing"?

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Just keen to hear what people think. What do you like/dislike in books. movies and TV?
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Detailed descriptions of sex.
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Detailed descriptions of descriptions of sex in written passages.

It honestly depends. I read To Have and Have Not and The Picture of Dorian Gray back to back. Both were unbelievably well written (even if the former is generally considered Hemingway's weakest book), but were polar opposites in terms of technique.

Hemingway used a journalistic, simplistic style similar to Orwell. Everything was matter of fact and straight forward. Pointless details were left to the reader's imagination and the focus was on the story. However, his stories still could take mundane tasks (such as fishing) and make them the stuff of Greek Epics.

Oscar Wilde, on the other hand, described everything in his one book in painful detail. Sometimes it almost felt too much. However, it perfectly suited the story and it reflected the protagonists growing disinterest in his hedonistic material lifestyle. The descriptions and dialogue were clever and well written.

It's like movies, though. Some movies are amazing because of their technical merits, where as other excel at their dialouge. For books, what I think it really comes down to is writing that suits the tone and narrative of the story. If you have a book that is about a very matter-of-fact, grounded story, a flowery description of every minute detail might not be the best idea.