Quote:
Originally Posted by bhartman36
I'm not sure such a dichotomy exists. ... A well-written story (again, from a technical standpoint) is always going to be more enjoyable to read than an interesting story written poorly, if for no other reason than technical problems with the writing can take the reader out of the story, whereas good writing draws the reader in.
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I'm not sure that's true. Among the technical skills that might not be part of a very popular story are "ability to make it relevant to readers 20 years from now, who don't know today's pop culture."
A good author can make a current-events story still read as current in half a century; a poor author may only be able to entertain people who already share a huge body of knowledge with that author.
While basic spelling/punctuation/grammar issues can drive anyone out of an otherwise-good story, technical skills in other areas (plot/ characterization/ fact accuracy/ descriptions/ pacing/ consistency of tone) might be horribly lacking (well, probably not *all* of them), and the story still be very popular because the readers are all capable of "filling in the blanks" themselves.