Last week, Pamela Hammonds, one of the six wonderful women who blog at What Women Write, asked for input on the question of whether writers are born, made, or some combination thereof. Check out her thoughtful post for my take, as well as Bob Mayer’s.
Bob has a lot more experience than I do in both writing and teaching writing, so I was intrigued by his approach to the question. And I found it very interesting that he said “95 percent of students don’t really want to learn—they want validation. The few who really want to learn and are willing to, make great strides.” That dovetails so well with my experience as an MFA student.
When I got into the NCSU writing program, I was tremendously eager to learn how to take my skills to a professional level. Yes, I needed validation (who doesn’t?), but more than that, I wanted to understand what I was doing poorly, and learn how to do it well. Initially, I was perplexed by those in the program who seemed primarily to want validation. Over time, I chalked it up to our having differing goals. I was aiming for a writing career; not every MFA student is.
I should also note that I viewed Pamela’s question as pertaining to writers who intend their work to be read by others. Long before I ever seriously entertained the idea of a writing career, I wrote (journaled) extensively for myself, with no worries over whether the writing was “good.”
So I’m interested to know, what do you think? Are all successful writers born with the ability (latent though it may be)? Can we ever truly know whether someone who succeeds was or was not born with innate writing talent?
Hi Therese,
I posted this response on the What Women Write blog, but I thought I’d post here too. I am always fascinated by this debate.
My debut novel THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS is being published by Shaye Areheart, a division of Random House, April 13th, and YES, I think we’re born writers, but like you, I think that the desire and need to write stories and create characters has to be nurtured through craft and the willingness to revise and learn from the writers who preceded us, as well as from our peers. Funny side note: As a second and third grader, my parents were always praising my short stories and poems, and lo and behold, but my mother later confessed, “We thought you were copying them out of books. We were humoring you. We didn’t actually think you were writing the things you were reading to us.” It’s so funny to me! But I’m glad they praised me. I needed that early validation whether it was the truth or not.
Hi, Therese:
I haven’t given much serious thought to this question, but thinking about it now, I think writers can be made. Writing is a craft; stories are built; they have parts that can be put together, either well or poorly. I think it takes a great deal of perseverance to “build” a good story. And the result can be greatly enhanced by something ineffable – call it joy, or lyricism, or beauty; but I do think a decent, even remarkable, level of writing can be achieved by anyone who really tries and really wants to improve.
Bernie Brown
Michele, your parents are too funny! Whatever gets us there is all good in the end, right?
I, too, think it’s a combination of both, though I tend to believe there needs to be at least a kernel of nature with a big helping of nurture. It’ll be interesting one day when science has advanced enough to see whether it’s possible to see physical differences in the brain, though!
Thanks for linking to our What Women Write blog. We’re big fans of you, too!
Julie
Bernie, there is no doubt whatsoever that every aspiring writer can improve from wherever they start. Having taught creative writing to undergrads, I’ve seen what can happen when someone pays attention and really tries.
What I’m trying to get at is this: if the ability isn’t already embedded somewhere in that writer’s make-up, can it be fabricated by even the most earnest wannabe? I don’t think it can.
You’re right: writing IS a craft, stories are assembled through sheer effort, and perseverance is crucial. I encourage every desirous writer-to-be to give it his or her best shot. But I have to disagree with you about “anyone” being able to become a decent writer–if by “decent” we’re talking publishable by a reputable lit mag/e-zine/publisher, etc. In my experience, some people lack the analytic ability necessary for creative story construction and/or the ability to see flaws in their work and others’.
Julie, brain studies would be fascinating!
And I wonder if that kernel needs only to be one of “creativity” or if there’s something distinct for each type of artistic activity…
My short answer is that a few people are born with a special talent, but that most or almost all people have what it takes to be adequate writers and get published.
Now for my long answer.
Music and storytelling (often linked) existed long, long before technology. They’re deeply ingrained in the human soul and presumably coded somehow in the genome. Much of everyday conversation consists of storytelling. “My tire blew out on the highway during the thunderstorm.” “The boss wanted to fire me but I talked him out of it.” “I saw my high school best friend for the first time in 20 years.” etc.
I think there are several talents and personality traits involved in becoming a good writer who’s published, and the more of these you have the better your chances of success. Off the top of my head I would name persistence; belief in oneself despite what others say; the ability to tell good prose from bad; the ability to memorize grammar rules; a perspective on the world different from other people’s; a love of words and their sounds, histories, and connotations; knowledge (innate or learned) of story structure; an understanding (conscious or subconscious) that a story is about more than the story—it’s also about the storyteller, and the storyteller’s society, and human beings as a whole; and several kinds of creativity. Probably many more factors are involved.
Back when I worked at magazines, I knew working reporters who lacked many of the above abilities (and it’s clear in the newspapers I’ve read since that that problem infects the newspaper world too), yet had careers at respectable publications. I think the reporters who win Pulitzers, however, probably have most or all of those abilities.
I want to do an English Lit. and Creative Writing degree to teach me how to write properly. I’m going to need validation to believe in myself but my priority is to learn.
To answer your question, I think that every writer is born with the talent, it just needs to be polished.
Shauna, lots of good points here. I think the sticking point really comes in trying to define what “good” writing is. There are so many forms, and so many purposes, and then within each of those are varying levels of accomplishment. For example, is a part-time journalist at a tiny local newspaper as “good” as a staffer at the Washington Post? Both are working writers…
Sophie: you’re already doing the first essential thing necessary for eventual success, which is reading, reading, reading!! (Not to mention hanging around online with us writer types…) When you get to the stage of seeking your degree, you’ll be in good stead, and the rest will very likely come to you in due time.