Trying Too Hard or Dumbing Down?

This is something I don’t get, and it causes me to wonder if my SO is right.

He told me last week that I’ve become too caught up in trying to perfect my technical writing skills, during a conversation we were having.

I write light entertainment. It’s not going to change anyone’s life, nor is it intended to. There’s no desire in me to be the Best Writer Ever, but I do want to be the best writer I can be. I don’t think that’s an odd goal.

What I don’t get is that in my constant reading around, I see a lot of books that I find comparable to stuff I wrote back when I was starting out, or to my first drafts now, that is published and receiving a lot of good reviews.

I’m not talking about the stories themselves, but the way they are written. No, I’m not going to mention names or point out any examples. My intention isn’t to hurt anyone’s feelings, but to decide if I am trying too hard to polish my own writing skills and therefore screwing myself. None of them are bad writers, and I’m not saying I’m a better writer than they are.

The stuff I wrote three years ago makes me cringe and want to revise it. I don’t because if I did, I’d be doing that all the time instead of writing new stories. Here in three more years, I’ll probably cringe and want to revise the stuff I’m writing right now.

Stuff like short, choppy sentences that make reading awkward rather than smooth flowing. Or writing that’s so flowery and has sentences ten miles long. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. I try to write so that it reads smoothly and doesn’t make a reader shake their head constantly. Doesn’t mean I succeed, but I do try.

When I see something written in such a way that has 100 4 to 5 star reviews, it’s kind of disheartening. It makes me wonder if I am trying too hard and should slack off a little. As my SO said, that I’m just getting too caught up with the technical side of it, and therefore have become so nitpicky that reading anything has become an exercise in ‘if it was written like this, it would read better’.

By the way, I’m not talking about just other indie authors, but traditionally published ones as well.

Let me again say I’m not calling any of these unnamed authors bad writers. They’re obviously not, because people like their books.

But I also know good writing and good stories are two different things, and that everyone’s opinions on both differs.

Okay, I will mention one name: Stephanie Meyer. I’ve seen people remark that Twilight was a good story, but that her writing skills left a lot to be desired. And I’ve seen people comment on how puzzled they are such a story has become the huge hit it has, that both story and writing left a lot to be desired. And yet others that both story and writing were fantastic.

I’ve read Twilight because I was dared to and had to force myself to continue on after about page 6 and actually finish it. To be honest, I didn’t really pay attention to her writing style, because I loathed Bella. Actually, I loathed all the characters except Jacob, but that’s just because I already knew he was a werewolf and I’m on Team Shapeshifter’s side always.

But it’s an interesting example of the kind of thing I’m talking about. Bad story? Good story? Bad writing? Good writing?

I guess the opinions of those who plunk down shiny coins is what really matters.

So should I quit with the trying to improve my technical skills, and just plunk out stories that aren’t as polished as I’d like for them to be, or should I keep working on improving those skills?

Do any other authors think about this and wonder whether they are trying too hard?

Is this sort of thing part of that ‘dumbing down’ people are always talking about?