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I was listening to an interview on the radio the other day with a famous writer who has now passed away. The interviewer asked the author whether writing talent was something he thought writers were born with or something that can be learned.
I have to tell you that I sat up and took notice because this is a topic that has always interested me. Not only am I a writer, I’m also a writing teacher. Because I occupy those two roles (exclusive of one another), I tend to be a bit schizophrenic on the issue.
As a writer, I believe that writing talent is something I was born with. I was always a storyteller. I always had stories and plots and characters in my head. When I first sat down to write a novel, I had no training, no instruction. I knew nothing, but I had an innate sense of how a story should go, how a chapter should arc, how a conflict might be fleshed out. I’m not saying that my first attempt at novel writing was spectacular. I have to refine my skills. I had to learn a lot about characterization and plot and point of view. But the basics were already there. So if you ask Shana Galen, the writer, if a writer is born or made, her answer is born.
But how can Shana Galen, the teacher, agree with that verdict. If that’s true, isn’t all the hard work I put in teaching kids to write all for nothing? Am I just wasting my time 40 hours a week? What about the improvement I see in those young writers? And I definitely do see improvement. Take the first writing sample my students turn in in August and the last one in May and compare them, and almost 99% of the time, there is improvement. So as Shana Galen, the teacher, I believe writers can be made.
Professional writers? Can professional writers be made? Hmmm. I don’t know about that. What do you think? Born or made?
Filed in: Writers and Writing
Mar 20th
2009
7:51 am
Emily McKay Said:
Maybe you can teach someone to write, but you can’t teach them to be a story teller. Like you, I had stories and plot in my head from the time I was very young. i was in the second grade when I decided I was going to be writer.
But I also believe education is so important. I had instincts about how to tell a story, but my first few books were bad. I mean, really, really bad. I just didn’t have the craft to tell the stories I wanted to tell.
Okay, now I’m just waffling back and forth, too. Clearly it’s a complicated subject. I’d love to hear what everyone else has to say.
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Mar 20th
2009
9:19 am
RobynDeHart Said:
I think it’s both and there are writers that prove both theories. I believe I’m mostly a taught writer. Writing was always something I wanted to do and I was one of those writing students, Shana, and wrote my first book in the 4th grade. As an adult when I started my first romance novel (which will remain forever under my bed) I just started writing and it was a mess. I think I only got through 5 chapters or so. I need lots of instructions, I’m not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer (or anything else for that matter) and so I need those guidelines. So after that first failed attempt I started on a journey that I’m still on – reading and studying and trying everyday to master my craft.
All that being said, I like to think I have a smidgen of natural ability simply b/c it makes me feel more of a writer. But I’m still unsure if that’s true. Interesting post, Shana.
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Mar 20th
2009
12:08 pm
Shirley Karr Said:
To answer this question, I think you have to qualify it by adding — to what degree can someone write?
Anyone who can do well in an English class can probably be taught to write well, in a journeyman sort of way. They probably won’t write novels that will transcend time and be remembered for decades or centuries. But not everyone has to aspire to that level, do they?
I know people who were born storytellers who couldn’t correctly punctuate a sentence if their life depended on it. They needed to be taught grammar, spelling, etc. in order for readers to understand their story.
I think those who are born with more talent for writing (and yes, I believe some of us are gifted with a greater degree than others) can write better than a journeyman, but we still have to nurture that talent in order to make the most of it. I heard Linda Howard still reads at least one book every month on the craft of writing. At her level of success, she’s still studying craft.
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Mar 20th
2009
12:31 pm
Nancy Robards Thompson Said:
Great question, Shana. I have a degree in journalism, but I learned right out of the starting gate that news writing is a completely different animal than commercial fiction. Despite my degree, I had to learn how to craft a novel when I decided to write books. I’ll admit I had a strong gut instinct to help flatten the learning curve. So the transition felt natural.
That brings up another point: There are different types of writing. While I was not a natural journalist (and one newspaper editor in particular might have argued I was not a very good writer.
Translate: not a very good journalist), writing fiction felt like coming home (and, thank goodness, my fiction editor keeps buying books).
I’ve been writing since I was in grade school. So, yes, I believe I was born with the desire/ability to tell a story – because I see stories EVERYWHERE, but I absolutely had to learn how to make my storytelling marketable. Maybe part of the answer is if you have the *desire* to write you were born with it (no matter if your craft is excellent or unpolished)? The flipside is the hard-to-understand creature who hates writing. The poor soul obviously was not blessed with the writing gene. So if you were born with the *desire,* maybe you’re a born writer? Then it’s a matter of finding your niche within the writing world and mastering the craft. Does that make sense?
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Mar 20th
2009
12:42 pm
Margo Maguire Said:
Great question, Shana.
I think it’s a bit of both. I know storytellers who can’t (or don’t have the discipline) to write. And I know people who can write, who have no talent for telling a story. Can it be learned? I think there are a few who experience one of those that “aha” moments and realize what they’re doing that makes their story too dry or too wordy, or too…whatever. And that’s why there are so many aspiring authors out there. They keep on trying because they’re sure they’ll finally get it just right!
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Mar 20th
2009
12:44 pm
Laura Said:
I think writers, as with anyone with a specific talent, can be born. I also think you can take basic skills and enhance them and therefore think they can be taught. Some will have a natural ability and some can become quite good but have to maybe work at it harder. And that’s regardless of their “gift”.
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Mar 20th
2009
8:52 pm
Romantic Girl Said:
Oh, I find this topic so interesting. I’ve always secretly wondered if I was at a disadvantage because I wasn’t born with natural writing ability. I never aspired to be a writer, but I’ve had stories and characters in my head for as long as I can remember. It took me a long time before I thought I should try writing them down and I’ve had to work really hard craft. So, I’d like to think you can be both born and made. It’s good to hear that so many pubbed authors think so as well.
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Mar 21st
2009
3:50 am
Mary M Said:
I agree, what an interesting blog! I think writing skills can definitely be taught.
I also think that a quality like wit is natrual..if you’re not witty, you’ll never write a funny book. So while everyone can be taught to write, there are facets of story telling that are innate.
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