How can I learn to identify why a "good" piece of writing is good? Or at least, why it's effective at conveying particular emotions/ideas?
(Repost because the quote wasn't showing up earlier. Also to preface, I am aware that "good" is a highly subjective term. I am simply referring to works which I either personally find to be well-written, or are largely considered by others to be well-written.)
In Kurosawa's autobiography, there's a section of quotes about film-making, and this one in particular stood out to me.
>In order to write scripts you must first study the great novels and dramas of the world. You must consider why they are great. Where does the emotion come from that you feel as you read them? What degree of passion did the author have to have, what level of meticulousness did he have to command, in order to portray the characters and events as he did? You must read thoroughly, to the point where you can grasp these things.
This seems like quite a good way to improve your writing ability, but the problem with me is that, while I do consume a lot of art (not limited to writing) which is considered "challenging", my consumption of art is pretty surface level and vibes-based. I find it hard to articulate why exactly I find a particular work good/bad outside of using single adjectives like "gripping", "convoluted", or if I'm feeling fancy, "transcendental".
I picked up an Oxford Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction to see if that would give any pointers (although it's focused on the visual arts), but it was more about questions like "what is art?" and the sociological aspects of art rather than how to evaluate art.
Are there any good books which give advice on how to hone this ability? Or is it just a matter of consistently brute-forcing reflections on what I read and discussing them with others?