The abililty to write anything.

[Azure Skye]

I was thinking this morning as I was editing...should writers be able to write anything? Should a fiction writer be able to write a news article or should a freelancer be able to write a novel? I'm beginning to think I have the wrong idea in my head that writers should be able to write anything at any given moment.

PS, this made sense in my head.:Huh:

[pepperlandgirl]

I think writers could write anything, but not just at a drop of a hat. For example, I didn't know the first thing about writing screenplays. I had a wonderful teacher who taught me how, and over the course of several months and much work, I completed my first screenplay. I am not naturally a poet, I prefer to work in prose, and I had to learn how to write poetry. Now I can writing novels, poetry, and screenplays, but that's because I learned and studied the craft, not because I had some inate sense and knowledge of how to do it.

This touches on a rant that I keep carefully locked away, for fear of being seen as a big old *****. Everything, every genre, every style, is a craft that takes time and work and patience. That's not the bitchy part. I won't say the bitchy part because i'm not looking for a fight. Suffice it to say, choose your niche, or, if you don't want a single niche, choose the other genres you'd like to spend time with and get to learnin'.

[azbikergirl]

Every form of writing requires specialized skills. I worked for seven years as a technical writer in the software industry, which requires a different set of skills than what I currently use writing novels and short stories. If someone held a gun to my head, I could write a newspaper article, but it wouldn't be as good as one written by a journalist.

[Nateskate]

There are so many types of writing. Technical writing/ "Dear Abby"-style writing. Each requires a different skill.

Those who can drift in and out of Genre, and types of journalism, simply are like a decatholete, who does a little bit of everything well.

The majority of people who can do one, can't do the other. It's just like sports. In track, some people can sprint, but would stink in a long distance race. People good at long distance running generally can't sprint all that well.

Some novelists would stink at poetry, and some poets can't write a novel.

[Elonna]

My little opinion is this, everyone can write. Not everyone can write well.

The same goes crossing genres. Sure a good, even great, novelist can learn the craft of screenwriting or poetry, etc., but that doesn't mean they will produce quality work even if the form is correct. Even with years of practicing in another genre, you might improve, but it does not guarantee you will ever accomplish a work at the same quality level as in your "natural" genre.

But, I do agree that finding your niche genre is the first thing a writer must do. I am sure some writers start in the wrong genre and don't realize it until some time is invested. Then one day, they try something new that just flows so much better and easier for them, they realize they should have been writing in this genre all along.

Just my .02 worth

[Azure Skye]

I'm not sure where I got this false assumption. Sometimes I tend to create unrealistic expectations for myself. As I was thinking about this this morning, I realized that it was unrealistic and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thanks for your thoughts so far.

[Avalon]

I am sure some writers start in the wrong genre and don't realize it until some time is invested. Then one day, they try something new that just flows so much better and easier for them, they realize they should have been writing in this genre all along.

This is me, trying to write short stories. Sure, I managed to get to The End, but it was laborious, not very enjoyable, and took months, and the final product wasn't publishable. It was the wrong shape. It wasn't /sharp/, it was round. This was supposed to be my training ground, however, so I persisted. After about three years, I gave myself permission to quit and to spend a year on a novel, nothing else.

I haven't finished the novel, yet, but the process is... darnit, it's /fun/, watching all those threads scamper around, tieing them into knots and weaving them and changing them and tugging them and seeing what kind of cloth comes out of the loom.

[Jamesaritchie]

I was thinking this morning as I was editing...should writers be able to write anything? Should a fiction writer be able to write a news article or should a freelancer be able to write a novel? I'm beginning to think I have the wrong idea in my head that writers should be able to write anything at any given moment.

PS, this made sense in my head.:Huh:

No. At least not automatically. There are many very good novelists who simply can't write publishable short stories, and many very good short story writers who simply can't learn how to write a pubishable novel, even after many years of effort.

Many great novelists have flopped miserably at screenwriting, and many great screenwriters have flopped at novels.

There are also any number of nonfiction writers who struggled for decades without being able to write a publishable novel or short story.

I do think it's a heck of a lot easier for a good fiction writer to learn how to write nonfiction than for a nonfiction writer to learn how to write publishable fiction. The two have almost nothing in common, and being good at nonfiction in no way automatically means you have any talent at all for fiction.

There are many who can't even write more than one type of novel or short story.

What you can write well enough to publish is whatever you have the talent for. With some, this will be pretty much anything, with others the choices are much more limited.

I think Elonna said it all. Anyone can write anything, but writing well is another matter. You can't teach talent, and you can't learn talent.

[maestrowork]

I believe I can write anything, just not very well in many areas.

Writers, like other professionals, should know their strengths and weaknesses.

[rich]

I seldom write nonfiction, but I can. I write fiction and humor mostly and I'm comfortable with it. I write poetry damn well, but I seldom write it.

[LightShadow]

I used to brag to my friends when I was in the U.S. Navy that I could write anything on the spot, especially poetry, and I always succeeded when they would challenge me, until I came across a fellow writer who threw me a challenge that was beyond my understanding. We ought to be able to write anything, but like publishers, we have our specialties, and we ought to stick with what we're good at, be it non-fic, scifi, horror, mainstream, articles, poetry, screenplays, jokes, etc. Some people are exceptionally talented at a number of things, and that's great, but I'll just stick with what I know I'm good at.

[Darkhaven80]

There are so many types of writing. Technical writing/ "Dear Abby"-style writing. Each requires a different skill.

Those who can drift in and out of Genre, and types of journalism, simply are like a decatholete, who does a little bit of everything well.

The majority of people who can do one, can't do the other. It's just like sports. In track, some people can sprint, but would stink in a long distance race. People good at long distance running generally can't sprint all that well.

Some novelists would stink at poetry, and some poets can't write a novel.

Exactly. I suck at poetry, but write well. I can do decent to good articles and reviews, but couldn't imagine typing up a greeting card. :Sun:

[LightShadow]

Exactly. I suck at poetry, but write well. I can do decent to good articles and reviews, but couldn't imagine typing up a greeting card. :Sun:
I'm good at short stories and poetry and longer works, but my problem is I can only write for adults. I find it difficult to simplify enough for younger readers. Writers that can touch young hearts have true talent, I think.

[DirtySyko]

One realization everyone has to come to, whether you're an artist, writer, or even a video game designer, is that you can't specialize in everything.

Artist usually use a similiar technique in all of their work, as well as writers, and video game designers usually focus on doing one thing (Backgrounds, sound effects, character graphics, or creating the game's plot.)

I do believe, however, that you don't have to write the same thing over and over again. Just because you write one hell of a horror novel, doesn't mean you have to become Stephen King and focus your whole life on horror. The biggest thing isn't whether or not you CAN write a certain genre, it's if you have studied the genre enough to write about it. You need a certain amount of smarts when it comes to mystery to write a mystery novel. You need to know enough about space, technology, and what the future may or may not consist of to write a sci-fi novel... But anyone has the ability to research and learn these things.

Right now I'm writing humorous books. The first book I get published I want to be humor, but I do not want to write humor for the rest of my life, in the slightest. I actually have plans on writing a book about the life of prostitution. It will have a dark approach, and I'll explore the evil that is involved in the life style of a prostitute. It will be like Fight Club, when it comes to having a dark, eerie, and slummy feel to it. I'll do my studies, and learn all I can about prostitution and their life, but there is no way I'm writing comedy forever.

So, no, I don't really believe you have to stick with ONE genre... I do believe you shouldn't go over board though. But I also don't believe certain people are just born with amazing talent when it comes to writing a certain genre... The amazing talent is just how good somebody writes, not how good somebody writes a genre. You study the genre and take lessons, then you let your talent in writing do the rest.

[Jamesaritchie]

One realization everyone has to come to, whether you're an artist, writer, or even a video game designer, is that you can't specialize in everything.

Artist usually use a similiar technique in all of their work, as well as writers, and video game designers usually focus on doing one thing (Backgrounds, sound effects, character graphics, or creating the game's plot.)

I do believe, however, that you don't have to write the same thing over and over again. Just because you write one hell of a horror novel, doesn't mean you have to become Stephen King and focus your whole life on horror. The biggest thing isn't whether or not you CAN write a certain genre, it's if you have studied the genre enough to write about it. You need a certain amount of smarts when it comes to mystery to write a mystery novel. You need to know enough about space, technology, and what the future may or may not consist of to write a sci-fi novel... But anyone has the ability to research and learn these things.

Right now I'm writing humorous books. The first book I get published I want to be humor, but I do not want to write humor for the rest of my life, in the slightest. I actually have plans on writing a book about the life of prostitution. It will have a dark approach, and I'll explore the evil that is involved in the life style of a prostitute. It will be like Fight Club, when it comes to having a dark, eerie, and slummy feel to it. I'll do my studies, and learn all I can about prostitution and their life, but there is no way I'm writing comedy forever.

So, no, I don't really believe you have to stick with ONE genre... I do believe you shouldn't go over board though. But I also don't believe certain people are just born with amazing talent when it comes to writing a certain genre... The amazing talent is just how good somebody writes, not how good somebody writes a genre. You study the genre and take lessons, then you let your talent in writing do the rest.

I think you make some excellent points, though becoming Stephen King would mean not focusing your life on horror. Much of his best writing has nothing to do with horror.

[mommie4a]

I got a D+ on my first writing assignment in law school. We had to write a complaint. Two years later when I competed in moot court, my brief placed third out of 164.

What happened?

My first assignment was to write a legal complaint. I'd never seen one or read one, let alone write one. Some of my classmates had been paralegals and knew exactly what was in a complaint. I was completely unfamiliar with the style and content involved in writing that specific type of document.

Writing as a profession is no different, IMHO. Some genres come more naturally than others to me. And I fear that I'll never be able to write in certain genres (I can't imagine ever writing a play).

I mean - would you expect a figure skater to be able to play major league hockey? Can musicians switch seamlessly from one instrument to another or between types of music?

Another anecdote: When I was in social work school, I remember having a debate with a classmate about where to do field placements. This classmate believed that unless you were willing and able to work in a low-income housing development like Chicago's Cabrini Greens or NYC's Co-op City (Bronx actually, right?), then you had no right to call yourself a social worker. I never bought that. Social workers function and help in a wide variety of settings and are no less social workers because they don't work in or with low-income housing occupants.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But feeling confident in your convictions is most important.

[Thekherham]

Well, I've written poetry, science fiction, fantasy, thoroughbred racing articles...

I'm not sure if I could write really technical stuff. Maybe... If I did a lot of research and had a lot of time...

[Vomaxx]

The ability to write anything?? I'll settle for the ability to write something... that someone else will pay to read. :)

[brokenfingers]

This classmate believed that unless you were willing and able to work in a low-income housing development like Chicago's Cabrini Greens or NYC's Co-op City (Bronx actually, right?), then you had no right to call yourself a social worker.

Co-op City is in Queens, right alongside the Belt Parkway. And Queens is one of the five Boroughs that comprise New York City.

(for anyone interested. OK - sue me, I was bored and I answered her question. Sheesh!)

[mommie4a]

Broken - I grew up in CT - and my dad in Queens. Check that - I used to pass what I think was Co-op City on the Cross-Bronx, no?