Born with the Talent

ZannaPerry · Oct 7, 2007

Someone told me this afternoon that writing doesn't come easy. Either you know what you're doing, or you don't. Some people are blessed with the talent of writing since birth. The imagination, the visuals, and the right words.

Does anyone believe this? Do you have to have some kind of great talent to be a successful writer to imagine and create? Film directors are different because they have a visual on how they want each scene of their movie to be like. But is it also the same for authors?

It takes a lot of patience to be a writer, and a lot of imagination!

Just wondering............

rubarbb · Oct 7, 2007

I believe we all can do something well...all we have to do is discover what it is...

wordmonkey · Oct 7, 2007

Being born with talnt is not enough to succeed.

You need to develop the skills to use that talent, then work hard at what you're doing.

veinglory · Oct 7, 2007

It's the usual false dichotomy. No one will be able to write if never taught how to do it. Some will never be good at it no matter how well they are taught. etc.

Carrie in PA · Oct 7, 2007

More importantly, perhaps, is are you born with the inclination toward writing? If you're drawn to it, you can learn it, for the most part. I think we're mostly drawn toward what we're naturally talented at. And with all things, I absolutely believe that some people are just born with an amazing gift and just run with it.

ZannaPerry · Oct 7, 2007

Yeah, I know but if it's your destinty to write great stories..........you were born with the talent. And the older you get the better you become. . . the more you want to learn about the area of talent that you have and what interests you in the first place.

Some people have talent in many things, but how and when do they know what their true talent is? I was talented in volleyball, but that only lasted six years. Now, I need to know what else I am talented at that could end up being a career I want to pursue. Writing is what I want to go for, something I know I can learn from and get a lot better at. I just never really knew if it was something I was sure about until someone told me I had a way with words. That made me smile. Because I don't find writing easy, at all. . . I have to be in the moment....but I guess that's like everyone else.

Though, I envy these great authors who imagine up a story like nobody's business. Again, I'm sure their very first book wasn't all that much to talk about, but they've grown over the years, and became skillful.

Okay...blah, blah, blah!

PeeDee · Oct 7, 2007

How on earth can you answer that in the positive? I can't. I would feel like the most pompous ass on the planet.

I've been writing since I was about six, that I'm consciously aware of. Writing has always come very, very easy to me (this is not necessarily a good thing.) Was I born with the talent? I don't know. It's not for me to say, one way or the other. It's like me answering the question "Am I a brilliant writer?" It's none of my business.

KTC · Oct 7, 2007

This question comes up time and again here. I usually don't agree with the answer.

YOU ARE BORN WITH THE TALENT.

but you must nurture it. Your predisposition won't take you there...your hard work and endurance, and ability to learn and fine-tune...they will take you there.

BUT

If you are not born with the gift and you spend your life trying to learn it...you're fucked. Because you won't learn it.

Soccer Mom · Oct 7, 2007

Oh no. Lock thread. This always turns into some sort of flame war.

I agree with Kevin.

:runs off to don flame retardent jammies:

CreativityWorks · Oct 7, 2007

SuzyB said:
Film directors are different because they have a visual on how they want each scene of their movie to be like.

All creative professions have the same challenges- to learn their craft and then understand how to position those talents into a viable economic engine.

The talent you need to write well is passion. The rest you will learn.

Soccer Mom · Oct 7, 2007

CreativityWorks said:
SuzyB said:

Film directors are different because they have a visual on how they want each scene of their movie to be like.

All creative professions have the same challenges- to learn their craft and then understand how to position those talents into a viable economic engine.

The talent you need to write well is passion. The rest you will learn.

Click to expand...

No, it's really not all about being an economic engine. Passion may put the words on the page, but it won't put the right words on the page.

Back to OP: It's no good obsessing on what you may or may not have been born with. You can't change that-- and honestly, you can't know the answer.

Focus on what you can control. Learn your craft and persevere. Work on your writing skills.

PeeDee · Oct 7, 2007

Better than talent, or passion (dubious things to worry about), I think that a writer born with bloody-minded stubbornness would do best.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 7, 2007

I believe we all have exceptional talent in something. We just need to discover what that is. Some it is writing. Some it is carpentry. Some it is cooking.

I can cook, I can learn to follow recipes, but I can't create worldclass gourmet meals. Because I don't have that certain special talent real chefs are born with.

I can saw. I can hammer. But I can't create beautiful pieces of woodworking because I wasn't born with that innate talent.

I can type. I can put words together. I can even make a semblance of a story. But I can't get an agent, I can't get published because I probably don't have that talent either.

I guess I should just resign myself to that fact.

Maybe one day I'll figure out what my innate talent is.

Soccer Mom · Oct 7, 2007

I just find it counterproductive to sit around wondering what is talent I was born with and what is skill I acquired along the way.

Who cares?

Maybe I'm just fooling myself and I really suck. But I'll just keep writing and learning and submitting until all the editors and agents go into hiding and refuse to divulge their locations.

Siddow · Oct 7, 2007

I think the folks that people say were 'natural born writers' (are there any of those?) are the ones who simply were early and voracious readers.

PeeDee · Oct 7, 2007

I was an early and voracious reader. What a wonderful thing that is to be, too.

Don Allen · Oct 7, 2007

I have always thought that the best answer to this question is to take in account the humble beginnings of what is most likely the most talented musicians/writers/poets to grace humanity in the last half century and , maybe ever, The Beatles, most notable John Lennon and Paul Mc Cartney. BECAUSE, they had natural talent for sure, but it wouldn't have amounted to a hill of beans if First, they hadn't met, and second they didn't work their asses off in Hamburg and the streets of Liverpool learning there craft before hitting it big. My point is that they are the perfect example for writing or creating art. Yes you need some natural ability, that is true for most anything, but you really need to be committed to your craft to succeed.

aadams73 · Oct 8, 2007

Soccer Mom said:
Oh no. Lock thread. This always turns into some sort of flame war.

I agree with Kevin.

:runs off to don flame retardent jammies:

Yup!

:heads for the hills:

seun · Oct 8, 2007

I am a Great Writer. And I always have been.

Publishers and agents just don't know it yet.

PeeDee · Oct 8, 2007

seun said:
I am a Great Writer. And I always have been.

Publishers and agents just don't know it yet.

If only we all realized your unique and special dream fo real!

scarletpeaches · Oct 8, 2007

You're either born with a passion for books and writing and storytelling, or you're not. That's what can't be taught.

But can anyone write? Hell yeah. If they're taught the technicalities. It's the passion for it that brings it alive, though. The extra something.

So anyone can write a book, but not everyone would enjoy doing so. As for writing 'well' - beyond the technicalities, that is - that's a matter of taste.

Now I have spoken, lock thread.

seun · Oct 8, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
Now I have spoken, lock thread.

We all bow down before you

PeeDee · Oct 8, 2007

I bow to no man. Not even one that hugs my buttz.

scarletpeaches · Oct 8, 2007

seun said:
We all bow down before you

You please me, mortal. You may have a rep point.

PeeDee said:
I bow to no man. Not even one that hugs my buttz.

Firstly, I am not a man.

Secondly, it ain't your buttz I ar huggin.

seun · Oct 8, 2007

PeeDee said:
I bow to no man. Not even one that hugs my buttz.

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