Is writing a skill?

I think my point was that everyone wants their thoughts expressed and the messages get longer, but nothing new is said. Now don't get me wrong, sure I think everyone deserves to express their thoughts but where's the unique idea that writing is anything other than skill. talent or imagination?

Give me some rotting flesh to describe the premise that writing is a skill or a talent. Meat! I want something new and exciting to explain the worm protruding from my forehead while I scribble out a few hapless thoughts.

Next!

Jon

Skill, and imagination

SpookyWriter said:

I think my point was that everyone wants their thoughts expressed and the messages get longer, but nothing new is said. Now don't get me wrong, sure I think everyone deserves to express their thoughts but where's the unique idea that writing is anything other than skill. talent or imagination?

Give me some rotting flesh to describe the premise that writing is a skill or a talent. Meat! I want something new and exciting to explain the worm protruding from my forehead while I scribble out a few hapless thoughts.

Next!

Jon

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Give me a brea.. This is a social forum, not a classroom. If you think the thread is boring, and the posts too long, don't read it.

Give me a brea.. This is a social forum, not a classroom. If you think the thread is boring, and the posts too long, don't read it.

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Repetition isn't necessarily engaging. But that's for the board Étagère where I might go for relaxtion.

Tot zein!

Jon

maestrowork said:

Where would Mozart be if he didn't have his training?

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In the grave?

SusanR said:

The navy has this incredible, billion-dollar nuclear submarine thingie, and it won't go. Their top engineers can't make it go. So they call in a civilian in desperation. "Make it go," they plead.

So the civilian expert walks through the sub, sniffing the air here, sticking his head in circuits there. Finally, he takes out a hammer and taps a pipe. The sub starts up, and from then on, works fine.

The expert submits his bill to the Navy. "$500,000 for fixing nuclear sub" it reads. Furious, the Navy lets him know they think his fee is outrageous. He just tapped with a hammer, right? So they tell him to submit an itemized bill.

Which he does:

"For tapping with hammer: $1.00.
For knowing where to tap: $499,000."

Writing---anyone can do it. Writing well? Priceless.

SusanR

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Brilliant. Just brilliant.

He said it wasn’t because anyone can write.

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Unfortunately, far too many people actually believe this load of crap, which is why we have so many clueless dilettantes squirting out horrible dreck from their talentless arses. I don't know how it is in the novel-writing world but I imagine it's not too different from the screenwriting world, where a person thinks he/she can write simply because he/she likes movies and can write his/her name. They don't seem to be able to fathom that writing is not only a skill, but an art.

Just because someone can pick up a paintbrush doesn't mean they're the next Picasso.

SpookyWriter said:

Take the test and if you pass within the top 85 percentile then you move on to the next level. Many writers have a difficult time with structure.

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I think the bigger problem (at least in screenwriting) is with story structure, not necessarily sentence structure.

Yes, grammar/syntax/general sentence structure is quite important, but I've encountered many more people who can string together a nice sentence, but couldn't dramatically structure a decent story to save their lives, than I've met people who can expertly structure a story, but can't write an intelligible sentence.

However, the largest group I encounter are people who just genuinely have horrible ideas.

SpookyWriter said:

I think my point was that everyone wants their thoughts expressed and the messages get longer, but nothing new is said. Now don't get me wrong, sure I think everyone deserves to express their thoughts but where's the unique idea that writing is anything other than skill. talent or imagination?

Give me some rotting flesh to describe the premise that writing is a skill or a talent. Meat! I want something new and exciting to explain the worm protruding from my forehead while I scribble out a few hapless thoughts.

Next!

Jon

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Okay.

Soak this in...

http://www.scriptsales.com/boards/showthread.php?t=15985

Yes, writing is a skill. As a matter of fact I would say it is mostly skill. So what. I don't think any of us would like it if it wasn't a skill. There can be a creative side to it, but let's remember journalist and tech writers abound. They may not think of themselves as artists or magic word weavers. They use their skill to make a living just like the novelist does.

We love it, and it is close to us, so we want to see it for more than it is sometimes. We don't have to. We are all communicating through an old language that is rooted in the ancient world. It has bonded lovers and started wars. It is the result of thousands of years of humankind's understanding of the world and each other. It like nothing else defines us and goes before us through time to others. It is organic and ever growing ever changing. If I or anyone wants to take up this skill and run after it for mastery, why not call them skilled? I think the art and beauty are in the tools that are being used here. Using those tools is a craft founded in skill.

I think that getting published and paid are the real skills - but then I'm just crass and mercenary.

egem said:

Yes, writing is a skill. As a matter of fact I would say it is mostly skill. So what. I don't think any of us would like it if it wasn't a skill. There can be a creative side to it, but let's remember journalist and tech writers abound. They may not think of themselves as artists or magic word weavers. They use their skill to make a living just like the novelist does.

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I'm a journalist and a fiction writer, and both are creative--in different ways. But I'd never use an expression like 'magic word weaver.'