Guys lets get real

Exactly

Clearly you need talent to really excel, or even just be bothered to try. I had to have music lessons in school. Some of my classmates were true musicians, but I am not. We recieved the same practise time and teaching, so in the end the pieces of my classmates and I performed technically sounded the same, but they were actually playing whilst I merely hit the right notes in the right order (well, occasionally). There was no inate skill or conviction to my performance, so I gave it up ASAP and haven't touched a piano/keyboard for five years.

I do not however, believe anyone is simply born with the ability. That comes with work. Presumably I was born with an ability to be a writer (though fuck knows where it came from), but you couldn't have given me a pen & paper at five, ten, even fifteen years old and got anything decent to show for it.

Truly it is impossible not to learn. By learn I mean acquire knowledge, you do that everytime you read anothers work, experience emotions, even the act of writing itself.

 

isnt there alot to do with geneaology???

personally i blame talent on past lives

 

LOL yeah they've got a lot to answer.


No idea if anyone in my family was a writer, or had any skill in that area. Never really thought about it. Do know it's true musical talent, or lack thereof, is determined by genes to a certain extent. So that'd make sense.

 

haha i like this guy. i dont give a fuck what other people think about my writing. and i do believe writers are born.

 

Actually you are all wrong. Recently a gene has been found that determines writing talent. Without it you havent a chance of success. But that alone does not mean you will be able to write. You also need to consume at least three cups of coffee per day and of course virgins cannot be writers. Nor can people who have never left their hometowns. Also you lose the ability to write after you log a certain amount of reality TV watching. I believe it may be as low as 10 hours.

 

i never watch reality tv...i consume 2 liters of coffee a day...i sure ain't a virgin...i rarely stay in my hometown...i might be gifted!

 

case in point

 

haha i'm no virgin, i've been out of my hometown and i consume coipous amounts of coffee, but i'm a vh1 reality tv addict...ah i knew there was a reason for this writers block.

and right now i'm high and feel like i'm playing a piano thats being pulled up a hill. wee.

 

I went to school for writing, I always knew I could write but I went to school to get a piece of paper that said I could write. I think the things I learned were the things writers learn by memorization. I developed an indepth knowledge of grammar. The other thing I learned was how to take criticism really well. I learned to be in a room with your peers and have a professor you looked up to rip your piece to absolute shreds. I learned how to look someone in the eye and hear them say that I would never be a writer and know that they were wrong. I learned how to meet deadlines and word counts and how to find the stories others ignored. But I didn't learn how to market my writing.
There are some things you can learn and other things, those that involve passion and commitment, that can't be taught.
H

 

A true writer -- (author) -- whatever you want to call them has a passion for writing, and notices things that other's don't notice. These details come out in the writting, and they make the piece good. They can right about everyday, normal, events and make them seem really interesting. To be a writer, one might be passionate and observant. One must also not be afraid of failure and rejection...face it, you're gonna write a piece and some people aren't going to like it. If you can't except that, writing is not for you. I think people can improve their writting with practice, but just because they improve their writing, that doesn't make them a "writer", but it can make them better at writing. But still, if the inner passion is lacking, the observational abilities not present, I don't think they could be built into a person...but there's always the exception. The teacher that might spark a passion that someoen never knew about...perhaps.

 

I guess I am not a true writer then. I write for people to buy my work--I write to please them. I think writing is my way of giving other people some enjoyment and entertainment.

 

That's cool. But do you respond to people not liking your work, people critisizing it? Do you really write for other people, or do you write because you enjoy it and peopel buying it is just an added benifit? I'm just curious.

 

Nice forum, veinglory!

 

I write mainly for other people and also enjoy it somewhat--although I normally hate the stories and get really sick of writing it too--I finish it for the readers. So far the only person to come up and say they hated the book was homophobic and didn't like the gay characters. That doesn't excatly make me lose any sleep. I have a had few people give one of my stories a far or poor rating. Partly that makes me want to write betterm, but also some people are never happy. So long as I am getting repeat customers and some good feedback I think I am doing okay!

The ERWF forum is doing quite well... there were more people out there writing this sort of stuff than I realised!

 

A true writer isn't so naive. Being a great writer takes a lot of hard work and learning.