Should I be a writer?

Absolutely - it's just that for some people it'd take a few hundred years

 

and probably a brain transplant, as well... ;-)

 

I don't think anyone who wants to can be a writer, as much as I don't think those who discourage aspiring writers are cynical washups.

So, eh, yeah.

 

To the original post this way of thinking can be applied to any field of entrepreneurship.
I've herd some artists talk about classes where the teacher will tell the students on the first day of class "One of you will make it... Maybe".

 

When I first came across this thread (saw it in the "recent posts" sidebar before I saw that it was started by Steerpike) I thought "OH DEAR GOD" thinking it was a developing writer who was seeking permission/validation to pursue what they wanted to do.......

Yes, anyone can be a writer if they want to. But they have to get off of their ass and actually write. I've seen so many people with the "I'd like to be a writer, but I want to learn enough about writing first..." mindset. Screw that. The ONLY way to learn to write is by doing it. And then by finding peers, mentors, more experienced writers, and learning where your mistakes are, and fixing them. And keep on doing it until you're happy with your ability, which will likely be never (even people who've had 20 books published are looking to improve) but you will be pretty damn good after a while. Sure you will learn new stuff by studying new rhetorical devices and the like, but it does you no good if you don't actually put what you learn to use by actively writing.

Now, as for the "you have it or you don't" school of thought, I think that refers mainly to the interest in writing. You're not going to do all those things above if you aren't interested in it. But someone who has no interest in being a writer isn't going to worry about whether or not they're cut out for it.

So I think it's wrong to dissuade someone who's new and not very good yet by saying something like "you either are good at it or aren't" to imply that they might never become good.

Sorry if this is totally off-topic...I didn't read the entire thread...

 

I agree with Mal and I haven't even gotten halfway with my not-published first book!

The "have it or don't" is simply the interest. People who aren't interested in writing aren't even going to waste their time worrying about it. I'm not even vaguely into football, so I'm not worrying myself to death with, "Should I be a football player?" Hell, try this experiment. Go up to a football player and ask him thusly, "Suppose I have an interest in football and kinda sorta wanted to be a football player, should I give it a go?"

Most likely he'll shrug and say, "Eh, why not?" or give you a resounding "Go for it!" It's irrelevant whether or not you really meant what you just asked him.

The point is that the reason he's a football player is because he has a vested interest in it. It may have even started with a thought, years ago as a child, of, "Boy, wouldn't it be cool to be one of them?" He probably spent his elementary and middle school years daydreaming that he's charging down the field from the advancing opponents, football in hand, hearing the thunderous roar of the fans depending on him to make it to the goal and win. Just like we daydream that we're published authors. Some of us, like me, see ourselves being interviewed at some coffee shop, mug in hand, and in the most dashing suit/dress ever. We imagine ourselves in book signing events, surrounded by adoring fans who are dressed up like our characters, us drinking out of a cup styled like the ones our characters drink out of. (Imagines self surrounded by people in Colonial garb while sipping tea out of the period mug)

If you have even the slightest bit of interest in writing, if you do nothing but think up of stories and characters, then my friend, you want to be a writer. Now you must learn the craft, just like that football player had to learn how to be a football player.

However, you must be prepared for the long road ahead. It will be littered with failures, just like the football player will run into failures.

But if you have that fire, if you refuse to bend over, you will succeed.

Talk to a football player, ask him why he didn't just give up when he failed. Why he didn't just call it quits when the going got tough.

...This is saying something if I, a person who hates football, keeps harping on about football players.

 

I've been unable to really pin down with words about how I feel about the innate vs hard work debate about writing talent. I don't believe that people are born great writers; that is to say, I don't believe certain people don't/could never possess great writing talent. But it's definitely a complicated process that gives talent to people. Thinking about the variables, unlike athletes, writers require no special physique or body structure to be able to succeed. I think the only real requirement is obviously intelligence to the level that they have the capacity for imagination and to learn the intricacies of a language.

Thinking about it this way. One of my friends has little to no interest in stories or reading, or anything like that; he openly tells me this all the time. He only watches films for action or comedy and doesn't bother following plot lines, he skips dialogue in video games so he can get on shooting the bad guys, he's never completed a fiction book, that kind of thing. I on the other hand am obsessed with stories. I demand thorough enjoyable plots from movies, I read plenty of books (although probably not as much as I should), I read poems, I love to write, and so on. We go cycling together loads along the coast. Lets say we pulled up on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean at sunset. He might feel relaxed perhaps, or maybe nostalgic if some memory of his happened in a similar setting. But he's otherwise largely disinterested, and more concerned about gossiping to me about why Fernando Torres isn't scoring at Chelsea or how awesome he thinks Australian people are. For me, on the other hand, my mind would be (or at least, the key point here, could be) conjuring up fictitious scenarios in this mesmerizing setting. Maybe there are people setting at the edge of the cliff watching the sunset. Why are they there? why is one of them holding a picnic basket, another dressed in leather? why is a ship-wreck half buried in the sand? Why are there birds the size of horses flying around gracefully? It wouldn't take much effort for me to turn some inspiring scene into a fictional story (although whether it would be any good is another matter.) But my mate, he would never be inspired like that.

But the ability to do this changes and improves. 5 years ago I might have only seen people sitting on the cliff face. Now things have changed, my imagination has improved. Before in stories where I would have only considered blank grey walls I now picture much more scenic, whether they're rotting green-grey dusty cracked rock or elaborate golden panels scattered with portraits, my creativity and imagination has improved. Maybe now I would see a grand futuristic city on the horizon on that cliff face, seemingly in the ocean, with airships circling it like flocks of birds as the people on the cliff sit looking at it next to the sunset. I expect somebody vastly more advanced at storytelling than me would be able to see something far more exciting, realistic, atmosphere, etc.

What about my mate though? I recon he doesn't see anything because he doesn't possess the traits too. But I think it's just that; personality traits. I think he could potentially become a fantastic writer, but a lot of things would have to change. His perception of things would need to change; he'd need to find the idea of fictional stories pleasurable and entertaining. Maybe he'd become a little more pessimistic about the real world and consequently become more interested in fictional worlds as a kind of escapist mechanism. Maybe he'd have just learnt through association subconsciously - fictional worlds = pleasure. There are lots of reasons for a personality to find fictional worlds pleasurable. He'd need to develop a think-out-of-the-box personality trait perhaps, to come out with exciting and fresh plots. He'd perhaps need to develop more empathy, to really understand people and why they do things in order to create dynamic characters. There are probably plenty of other small but important traits that would help him develop a good imagination and creativity base as well as, obviously, an actual interest in writing. Then these traits would need to improve, through time and experience. Seeing the world, meeting and learning about people, it would help to develop imagination, to expand his sensory library. If you only ever live/study in a house/school with grey or cream flat walls, like I did, how can you ever picture anything differently? Sure you could imagine something else, but it'd likely be crazy, nonsensical; if somebody says "stairs", how can you picture a grand marble staircase if you've only ever seen a grey plywood one? That kind of thing comes with time and experience, and obviously this applies to more complicated locations, situations or people. Having particular personality traits can speed this up and improve this process too; attentiveness. The ability to take note of and appreciate all kinds of locations, scenarios, people. Then, of course, there's the more down-to-earth steps that require all their traits too. The focus and concentration to learn the ins and outs of a language, to study literature and how to communicate effectively with words. The patients to sit down and write, the presence of mind to remain at your creative-best and conjure up your sensory library to create fantastic environments and people who aren't plain and simple. Then, the traits to get through the formalities of sharing your work. The hardyness to take rejection. The drive and determination to succeed and not just take an easier route of life which involves giving up. The toughness to withstand critique.

And that's how I personally think it works. Talent in writing is just a string of personality traits that all come together to make a person interested in writing, able to create plots and characters better than others, able to improve through experience faster and more efficiently than others, able to learn the skills of their language better than most, able to sit down and write efficiently and effectively, and able to battle through the industry to get published. And, as I stated in an earlier post, personalities change, and all the time in in fact. The more relevant traits and the stronger these traits, the better the chance for a better writer.

So I think yes, anybody could become a great writer. People are born and grow up in conditions that mean they possess all the traits they need to become top class in the writing industry, but that doesn't mean other people can't possess those traits either. They just don't. But it's complicated. There are so many traits to consider, and it is incredibly difficult to consciously change your personality; they couldn't be "faked" either. So somebody would have to identify logically all the traits that would be needed to change their personalities in such a way as to make them suitable for writing, and then actually change in such a way. And we're talking deep traits here too; perceptions, cognitive processes, pleasure systems. I don't think anybody could realistically do that themselves. But, it wouldn't surprise me if people have spontaneously turned down the route of writing and developed in to great authors, even if they possessed none of the personality a typical writer might have when they were born.

Some people might not have so many of these little traits that make them think of impressive plots or dynamic characters as often, but they simply instead have an incredible grasp of language and literature and can communicate extremely well. Or maybe vice versa. Either way I think they can get by. But probably, the true geniuses among literature have it all, if not most of it all.

Of course, I'm not a mind reader or anything, so I can't really be sure what my mate is thinking, but I like to think I know him pretty well (y).





tl;dr? - personality traits are what make or break writers, and these can change, so, in my opinion, anybody could potentially become a fantastic writer