Right now, good writing is a skill that is more important than ever. It is no longer regarded as a skill that only authors or journalists should possess. In an era where “content creators” are thriving, many people have turned to self-producing, rather than hiring someone else to do work that was traditionally considered beyond their job scopes. This is why writing tools like Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and ProWritingAid are becoming so popular.

For example, video-editing, song-writing, and photography used to be considered highly specialized skills a few decades ago. However, with tutorials becoming more accessible and software becoming more user-friendly, more and more people have picked up these skills. This not only helps to cut costs from having to outsource services, it also allows for more flexibility and personalization in the work they create.

Writing is no different. While the online trend nowadays is moving toward less text-based media like vlogging and podcasts, the skill is still very much in use alongside these mediums. Photos require captions, and videos and podcasts require scripting. Poor writing would distract from the quality of the main form of media.

Then again, the ability to write well has always been important even for people whose work is not related to writing. Those applying for jobs, schools, or any role in an organization are usually required to submit a resume or portfolio of some sort. Language proficiency is a major skill that recruiters look out for, and the written resume is a good gauge of that. Good language is also considered basic etiquette in professional emails.

What Is Good Writing?

One of the most fundamental features of good writing would probably be spelling and grammar. These are the first things any English learner learns, and what is most jarring to readers when used incorrectly. A good grasp of spelling and grammar is typically enough for writing short content like emails. Fortunately, these are also the easiest to check and correct, and plenty of online writing aids provide spelling and grammar checks for free.

But for anything longer than a few sentences, good writing takes more than just good spelling and grammar. Word and sentence variety, tones and styles, and readability are just some of the many factors that go into what makes a piece of writing good. In fact, there are many unwritten rules for writing that we don’t learn about in school.

Take this, for example: Why does the phrase “a cute little brown dog” sound so much better as compared with “a brown cute little dog”? According to The Elements of Eloquence, a book that explains what makes English expressions sound good, adjectives are arranged in a certain order: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose. No native English speaker actually learns this rule, yet changing the order can drastically affect how the sentence sounds.

Moreover, “good writing” can look very different depending on what you’re writing. A product advertisement, a scientific study, and a novel all require very different styles and formats. For writing that intends to capture and retain the reader, using variety is important for engagement. Educational resources should ensure the language used is understandable for the level of the intended audience. In most cases, the best way to achieve good writing is to compare new work against established material.

Writing in Digital Marketing

As compared to the pre-internet days where making a purchase involved seeing the goods and services for yourself, many businesses nowadays have websites or social media platforms that reach their customers first. Text and images are what online shoppers use to decide whether or not to buy a product. Thus, many marketers put in a lot of effort to make sure their written content is top quality.

In fact, online writing tools even provide packages specifically catered to business writing. ProWritingAid’s business writing assistant, for example, gives feedback that shows how much the content relates to the customer, rather than being too focused on promoting themselves. Knowing what phrases and keywords the target audience likes to see also helps to attract them to the content created.

Creative Writing

The internet encourages writers to produce their own creative pieces by allowing anyone to share their work with a large audience without the need to go through publishers. With creative writing, “good writing” is even more subjective, as authors tend to have their own personal styles and tones, all of which can result in fantastic writing.

However, some authors might wish to improve their writing by following certain language patterns and rules like sentence variety, “showing, not telling,” improving vocabulary, and so on. Online writing tools can help by analyzing these efficiently. Alternatively, basic grammar and spell checking functions are also useful for those who would rather spend their time on the more technical or fun parts of writing, regardless of their writing experience.