Innate talents

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turkelton

Hi

I was wondering if any members here agree that writing is a innate ability that you are born with, or that it is something you can learn. What do you think?
 

JoNightshade

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I think it's more a component of how you were raised and what you spent your time doing, which could be a genetic component or it could just be learned. I also think that if you dedicate yourself you can learn it at a later time in life, but it's much harder than if you "got it" at a younger age.

What I mean is that, looking back on my own life, I was essentially training myself to be a writer throughout my childhood. I didn't MEAN to, it just happened that way. I read so much and wrote so much that it became a part of me. I think if I had to start from square one today and learn everything, it would take me another twenty years. So I'm glad that I wrote all that crap as a child, because... well, I was a kid. Nobody cared.

Writing crap NOW, well... it's a little more embarrassing. ;) (Not to say I don't do it.)
 

dclary

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Anyone can learn to write.

Anyone can learn the foundations of storytelling.

But just as anyone can learn to throw and catch a football, only a handful of people will be physically and mentally gifted enough to become hall-of-fame gods of the sport.

Just as anyone can learn about space, colors, and textures, only a handful of people will ever be known as masterwork artists or painters or sculptors.

There is something innate and giftable in any human endeavor. That does not mean you can't compete and have fun in your local parks and rec flag football league. It doesn't mean you can't paint a self-portrait for your wall.

So write. As best as you can. And don't worry if that means you'll never be Jerry Rice or Michaelangelo. Just be you. Most of the time, that's going to be enough.
 

RumpleTumbler

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As a flight instructor I heard someone say "anyone can learn to fly an airplane."

:roll:
 

III

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So write. As best as you can. And don't worry if that means you'll never be Jerry Rice or Michaelangelo. Just be you. Most of the time, that's going to be enough.

Jerry Rice wasn't an author, moron. And Michaelangelo was a turtle. His books rocked!
 

Wolvel

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All I have to say is that it's hot, and the guy wi
I got to go with C.

I think we are born with the talent but need guidance to nurture and grow it.

Also some people are natural born story tellers but can't write, and some can write but can't tell a story.
 
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Writing is without a doubt a learned talent.

Stupidity and laziness, however, are almost always natural and are usually capable of completely overwhelming good writing potential.

In other words, learning to write is easy. But some people don't hone their craft. People who search for the magick formula of Good Writing tend to fall into this category.

But seriously, there's nothing easier than learning how to write. You just have to work at it, a lot. That's too much for most people. They just want a button to press so they can become Stephen King and J.K. Rowling so they can make a billion dollars and go back to watching TV. It just doesn't work that way.

The idea that some people are just born this way or that way isn't just insulting, it's completely not true. If you want to be accurately specific, you could say that some things are learned through natural development depending on your environment growing up while other things you have to learn by seeking them out and very specifically trying to gain some skill in it. In that area I'd have to say that some people are simply raised in a more creatively-nurturing environment than others, and while that might make them more of a "natural" storyteller, they weren't born with that quality, you see what I'm saying? And even the so-called "naturals" had to work at it, a lot. Anyone who tells you differently is either: A. Lying to you, B. Lying to themselves, or C. Both.
 

OverTheHills&FarAway

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This is that whole nature vs. nurture thing. Have scientists come to a satisfactory conclusion about that one yet?

There is such a thing as talent. You can see it in the elementary schools. Some kids have "it" and some don't. Did their parents read to them in the womb? Do they just have a propensity for words and learning? Depends.

Come back in fifteen years. Some of those it kids will have developed their talents. Some haven't. Still others have no talent at all but a ridiculous desire to write. So they've studied up and they read and they wrote and they wrote some more. No talent? Maybe. But they have more stuff written than the talented ones who never went anywhere with it. They can submit stories. The others can't.

Depends. A little of both. I don't know! Everyone has different talents. To be a successful writer you need a lot of them. Including perseverance and patience. That's often in short supply.
 

kristie911

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C. A bit of both.

I think anyone can learn to write and with a lot of practice, they can probably even be pretty good. Just like there are people that are born with the talent to write but if they don't practice and don't choose to use it, it's a talent wasted.
 

joyce

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I also choose C. I've been reading and writing stuff for as long as I can remember. This last year I really started taking the whole writing thing seriously and thought I might just finish something and try to get it published. I've learned so much just from being here at AW and I know I still have more to learn. I think some people are just born to be great story tellers so perhaps their journey is a bit easier. I'm finding out there is so much more to this publishing thing than just being able to tell a great story.
 

NeuroFizz

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Tabula Rasa

Aristotle skips to
Thomas Aquinas
tabula rasa recovered,
of sensory experience
Lockean empiricism
re-discovered

Plato’s Phaedo
of minds floating,
pre-existing in heaven
to script one’s own soul
all characteristics
self-leaven

Nature, nuture
nuture, nature
what is it to write?
To whom should
I listen?
Who is right?

My genes scream
the table is not
so blank,
while experience
puts relief on every
flat plank.
 

John61480

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I am one of those who don't read a lot, and don't read at all currently. (I've only ever read Stephen King, a few Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's, and whatever miscellaneous my Dad has that's interesting). I started writing without ever looking at Online Message Boards. My first piece of writing had no inherent stuff to it. Just mush.

Later I decided to get serious. I didn't know how and remembered reading a few how to books. I did the best thing for myself and downloaded a free copy of The Elements of Style. I basically wrote stories using this reference as a Bible to follow.

Later I discovered AW and learned tons. At this moment in time, I'm picking up a few tricks and discoveries about my own writing. As to its effectiveness? I plan to take many months off again and come back with a fresh perspective. Just to see if I did things right.

So my answer seems to be working on writing is what got me farther. Not innate ability to write. But I do use my innate intuition a lot when I make writing decisions on the way I write.
 

turkelton

I agree that you have to refine your craft regardless of what talents you have, but there has to be some talent there to start with. It's like when diamonds are mined, they have to be cut and refined and processed to be their best. But you will never get a refined diamond from a lump of rock.
 

preyer

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i'm pretty sure writing has to do with using a particular part of your brain. if your synapses fire a certain way, you favour words. whatever it is (my uneducated guess is people who are 'gifted' have some sort of actual physical thing different than most of us, and that's what we call 'talent'), the simple fact is some people are born better at something than the average person. not that tremendous effort doesn't have to put into it to be world-class. but, no, i will never outrun a NFL receiver no matter how much i try to. that's okay, though, because i doubt many of them will ever write anything worth reading on their own. nor do i think my accountant is likely to write rings around me any more than i'm naturally good with numbers (i'm not, though i could probably figure out my own taxes given enough time).

so, i believe in talent, but i also believe it has to be honed. i've always said you can't learn talent. that's not to say desire and education can't make you servicable at probably most things, though i think it's wise not to confuse desire and education with talent. it's simply undeniable that people have natural aptitudes/talents. off the top of my head, i'd say that the chemical/electrical mess in our brains points towards a particular range of aptitudes and the environment might whiddle that down to more specific applications.
 
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