Is writing a skill or a gift

[zannie]

Hi all...do you think that writing is a gift that comes naturally (you either
have it or you don't) or is it an acquired skill?

[ShoutGrace]

There are definite ways any person can substantially improve their writing. For all intensive purposes, "writing" is a skill.

But creativity is a whole 'nother matter.

You can't turn yourself into a Joyce or a Faulkner with study.

[RJbibliophil]

both. anyone can learn to write, especially non-fiction, but fiction takes a gift, of couse you have to develop and practice your gift.

[muhsin]

Well.I can simply say it's both.And without one, one can't work-especially the skill.

[Pensive]

Both but more of a skill rather than gift.

[beer good]

Considering the most successful writers of our age are Dan Brown and JK Rowling, I'd say it's neither. :brow:

[IrishCanadian]

Considering the most successful writers of our age are Dan Brown and JK Rowling, I'd say it's neither. :brow:
Hahaha, well said!
I'd say both ... but I'd say more a gift. Of course its one of those nature vs nurture things really. I know people of the same education that have different levels of writing skills. Not to say that the education isnt a definite help.

[Bandini]

Good writing is a skill. Great writing is a gift.

[IrishCanadian]

there you go ... bandini knows!

[Bandini]

Hey - I belong to the moderately skilled group - unfortunately!

[jackyyyy]

Its a pain in the .... wrist.

[RobinHood3000]

I say skill. My aptitude was in mathematics and science until I was a teenager, and now I find myself enjoying little besides writing.

[Ryduce]

skill multiplied by practice+life experience=good writing


Although it probably does come more natural for others,I'd say anyone who can write a simple sentence can write a novel.Take Hemingway for example.

[IrishCanadian]

,I'd say anyone who can write a simple sentence can write a novel..
My brother recently finished his PhD in philosohpy, hes one of the smartest people I know and he expresses himself so well in writing. He just finished a novel and its the worst piece of fiction I have ever read ... ever.

[amanda_isabel]

i'd say more of a gift. anyone can write but few can really write in the ways that can reach into the deepest crevices(spell check please) of readers. writing is a talent that will be developed by skill but you've got to have the talent to begin with.

[RobinHood3000]

I disagree...simply because there are a few of them doesn't mean that those few were born with it. I think that everyone has the potential for good writing, if it could only be cultivated.

[subterranean]

Great writing is a gift.


That of course if you referring to literatures say, the Bible or Kamasutra. I think we can called great authors as gifted people, but then there are many of them who actually started from nothing, as in they had to practice for years to accomplish such fine writings.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Writing is a gift, but like all gifts, it can be easily squandered.

Just like a sportsman with natural talent that doesn't train will never become world class, a writer that doesn't work to perfect their craft will never become great either.

But also, as a commonly popular phrase would have it, you can't polish a turd!

[Anon22]

I'd say more of a skill... everybody has the capability of writing well, as long as they take and dedicate their time to learn it. Part of the skill of course involves things outside of writing... like imagination and stuff... but that's still, learnable. As a gift, I'd say it'll be easier to write, but that doesn't mean it's impossible with just skill.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Writing is a gift, but like all gifts, it can be easily squandered.

Just like a sportsman with natural talent that doesn't train will never become world class, a writer that doesn't work to perfect their craft will never become great either.

But also, as a commonly popular phrase would have it, you can't polish a turd!Well said, all of it. I fully agree. Talent is useless unless you exploit it. :thumbs_up

/Claes

[Sunlight]

Hi all...do you think that writing is a gift that comes naturally (you either
have it or you don't) or is it an acquired skill?

I believe everyone is a writer and a poet. Our writings, words and poems mean something different to ourselfs than they do to others. Personal experiences in life play a huge role in this.

So, yes, I believe we are all writers in our own way!

[SurrealDialogue]

Hi all...do you think that writing is a gift that comes naturally (you either
have it or you don't) or is it an acquired skill?

Why do you torment us with this question?! Begone!!! :lol: Just kidding...

Perhaps one way of answering that question is by listing some great writers who had parents or any relatives that wrote poetry, fiction, drama, etc. (albeit not as good as their descendent) and those who had absolutely no relative that was interested in writing to begin with. Can anyone come up with this list?

[Shannanigan]

Writing is a skill anyone can learn how to do, some are just blessed with the gifts of creativity, analytical minds, being better able to express themselves, or any number of other gifts or combination of these which gives them a head up over other writers.

Though I participate in both writing and athletics, I find it hard to compare them. See, I don't think I was born with a gift in either, I practiced hard and long at both, but my genetics held me back in athletics. I crawled my way up to average performance in basketball, cross-country, marathoning, track and field, and soccer...but my body just wasn't built to go any further. My writing, on the other hand, improves every time I do it, in my opinion...and always will. I think that because I was born with an analytical, observational mind, that that is a gift that has helped me immensely in my journey to better writing.

I think families of writers exist a lot because "creativity" genes (gifts?) tend to get passed on...my friend's parents are both painters, but he isn't, though he is an extremely expressive and adept writer...

[RobinHood3000]

I don't think it's so much genes as upbringing.

[Shannanigan]

I used to agree, RobinHood, but I just took a psychology class this semester and surprisingly, personality traits are being shown to be passed on more by genetics than by upbinging. Studies on adopted identical twins that went to different household environments have proven to be a great example.

I was a little disappointed when I read this, thinking that it meant that HOW I raise my (future) kids will not matter...just WHOSE genes I combine with mine...but then my text also said that the environment one is raised in does have an effect on how one sees the world, how one behaves and interacts in it, and basically what you do with the personality you are given...

[RobinHood3000]

Wow. That IS rather discouraging. On the other hand, if I can seem smart enough, my desirability goes up! :D

[SurrealDialogue]

Thanks a lot Shannanigan, your posting is very informative and made us saw the argument over "Nature vs. Nurture" (or environment) in a new light.

[Shannanigan]

lol Robin! Good luck on your quest to "seem" smart...

No problem Surreal...

Anyone can still be a writer though :) I got these insane mathmatical genes...give me any puzzle or proof and I can solve it, but I won't enjoy doing it. Not my thing. (Got the analytical genes but wasn't raised in an environment that cultivated a liking for them?) I like writing better, and I sucked when I first started....but I've learned. Now I use the analytical genes to easily write theses, critiques, summaries, reports, essays...all kinds of useful stuff.

[EAP]

Writing is a skill.

[SurrealDialogue]

Please, when you're making your claims, give evidence to them. The reason why I wrote you should make a list of great writers who are either born (genetic) with it or not is to provide evidence to your statement. Just saying you think is a skill or not without any examples is pointless.

[caesar]

The quality of content and its expression determines the merit of any writing. Experience supplies for content and command over language, for expression.
However, each can compensate for the dearth of the other.........to some extent.

English is a great language to express oneself.

[Manfred]

Writing is a gift that must be skillfully developed.
Basic knowledge of grammar, language, punctuation, etc. are musts for any would-be writer. But these basics cannot make up for imagination, an ear for dialogue, descriptive ability, or an instinctive knowledge that something isn't quite "right."
Too much or too little wordiness can ruin a work of fiction, as can a failure to correctly intertwine the threads of your story.
Of course all of these defeciencies may be remedied by hard work, but it's never quite the same; a mechanic is not a pilot.

When one student in a class blows the others away time and time again, it is probably not because he has worked harder than the others--although they may wish to think that this is so--but because he is more talented to begin with. This is especially true in off-the-cuff assignments that allow for no preparation time.

[RobinHood3000]

I don't think so -- I doubt that talents are ingrained from birth, but rather a result of the degree of stimulation that the child receives in the early years of life, which influences how well they learn.

[Manfred]

I don't think so -- I doubt that talents are ingrained from birth, but rather a result of the degree of stimulation that the child receives in the early years of life, which influences how well they learn.

I think that can lead to early reading, and can give a child the basic building blocks, but without innate talent all that will be achieved is craftwork. Sort of like building a house vs designing one.
Something extra is needed in order to take that creative leap.

[RobinHood3000]

I say again, there's no indication whatsoever of talent being innate so much as ingrained. How can anyone say if talent for writing is there from birth or there from age 2? As I am now, I do well in school in both math and writing, and absolutely enjoy the latter. As a child, my mother force-fed me the multiplication tables early on, and I read voraciously. I doubt that this is a coincidence.

[Manfred]

I doubt that it is either, but it only means that you learned to read early in life. How many works have you written? I don't mean to imply that you DON'T have a gift for writing, by the way. You are correct in your assertion that it must be nourished. If you don't write, you'll never know.
No, there are those that lack something in their makeup that discourages them from having an interest in this sort of activity. My sister and I were raised in the same house by the same parents, yet she rarely reads and has absolutely no interest in writing. In fact, she had a head start over me, in that she was enrolled in Montessori school, and I never was. But I--as you--read voraciously.
By the way, have you read Pyle's Robin Hood? I must have read it 25 times when I was younger.

[RobinHood3000]

Same house and same parents do not same upbringing make, although I can see where you're coming from.

Alas, have yet to read it -- too busy lately.

[Manfred]

To be absolutely honest, I feel that the most important attribute a writer can have, whether gifted or skilled, is self-discipline. Without it, one can rarely accomplish anything, no matter how good one is.
It is best, I believe, if one can eliminate as many outside distractions as possible, such as television, hanging with buddies, and even may have to include cutting back on one's reading, unfortunately.
Follow this up by concentrating all of your free time into a scheduled block and force yourself to write or research your work every day during the same time period. Otherwise, you get into a shotgun mindset and start putting things off until "you have more time," or "you feel more creative," or any of a dozen other excuses for procrastination.
Good luck!