"Она плохой писатель."
Translation:She is a bad writer.
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Can I just check I understood the adjective here? Is плохой nominative masculine singular because писатель is a masculine noun that is used because there is no separate word found for a female writer?
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Yes, you understood correctly. But here everything is a bit more complicated with the senrtence. Grammatically correct to say - "она плохая писательница".
In Russian language, many names of professions use with masculine choice despite interlocutors talk about a woman. It is grammatically incorrect (because it contradicts their genders), but often used. For example:
A feminine choice of the professions below you may hear on TV. They are official:
a teacher - учитель (masculine, single) / учительница (feminine, single);
a writer - писатель (masculine, single) / писательница (feminine, single);
a journalist - журналист (masculine, single) / журналистка (feminine, single);
a painter - художник (masculine, single) / художница (feminine, single);
a boss - начальник/директор (masculine, single) / директриса/начальница (feminine, single);
a principal - директор школы (masculine, single) / директриса школы
a cashier - кассир (masculine, single) / кассирша (feminine, single);
a manager - менеджер (masculine, single) / none - it doesn't have feminine;
This list is not complete. There are only those words which I remembered at a glance.
A feminine choice of professions below you will never hear on TV. They are used only in a common (not offical) conversation (offical they have a masculine choice only) :
a legislator - депутат (masculine, single) / депутатша (feminine, single);
a director - режисёр (masculine, single) / режисёрша (feminine, single);
a doctor - доктор (masculine, single) / докторша (feminine, single);
a doctor - врач (masculine, single) / врачиха (feminine, single, but this word - "врачиха" can be considered impolite);
a general - генерал (masculine, single) / генеральша (feminine, single);
a administrator - администратор (masculine, single) / администраторша (feminine, single);
This list is not complete too.
For describing each profession from the list above, you can use a masculine choice - no one can say that it's not right. But it conflicts with their genders. So I recommend using the name of the profession according to the gender of the employee (if there is such an official choice). I would not recommend using Russian feminine names of professions what do not have an official choice - some of them can be considered impolite.
This is an interesting question. Recently an interviewer began a conversation with Людмила Улицкая by asking whether she preferred to be called a писатель or писательница; she answered that she had no personal preference, either was fine with her. http://pozneronline.ru/2015/12/13302/
As far as I know using a masculine form of an adjective with a masculine form of a noun is grammatically correct even if talking about a female. I may not be politically correct, that is it.
