Are Writers Special People?

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Sat, 2006-07-29 15:24

I don't envisage this being the hottest debate to ever hit the forums, but I'm kinda interested in what people might say, nevertheless.

Is there any 'special' quality you have to have to be a decent writer, or do you feel that writers are a very normal sort of people who happen to make a particular choice about how to spend their lives?

Personally, I don't see that it's beyond any well educated person to be a writer (and a good one, at that,) if they're serious about it. An awful lot of people, on the other hand - and to be honest, people who don't seem, to my mind, to be particularly great writers - believe in some crucial spiritual factor, ability or inate talent that has marked them out.

Et vous?

Sat, 2006-07-29 16:26

mississippi

Are carpenters special people?

Sat, 2006-07-29 16:51

Jack Cade

They've got to have strong arms.

Sat, 2006-07-29 16:55

mississippi

Well in that sense, I guess EVERYONE is special, which in turn means no one is special, we're all just a bit different. I can live with that.

Sat, 2006-07-29 19:21

Jack Cade

There are people with *very* rare abilities, of course, but that can become a bit of an albatross. I'm straying off the subject. The belief some people entertain is that to be a *decent* writer - as opposed to a failed one - you've got to have some kind of spark. That it's more like, say, athletics, where you've *got* to have some innate genetic advantage, than something like carpentry, which is arguably simply a case of acquiring skills, so long as you don't have some innate genetic disadvantage, like being utterly weak. Whereas I'd say that, with the advantages of a decent education, anyone who wants to can write well, *if* they are concerned with writing well, rather than, say, becoming famous.

Sat, 2006-07-29 19:48

Juliet OC

i think you have to have an interest in people and be a natural observer - if that is the spark or the genetic advantage; except it could be a nurtured one, then that would make writers slightly special like chefs who have a natural ability to blend different tastes or atheletes with the correct body ratio. Juliet

Juliet

Sat, 2006-07-29 22:58

Dr Jekyll

Some thoughts. It helps * to be narcissistic * to feel wounded / unheard * to have a pencil and some paper, or a functioning word processor and printer * to have a reader

Sun, 2006-07-30 00:06

styx

I was in treatment once, along side a female carpenter who stood no more than 5'1' and weighed about 7 stone. She worked for Wandsworth council I recall. I very delicately asked how did she manage to lump around 8' by 4' sheets of MDF which are extremely heavy. "I get a fella to do it" she replied. Yes we are special.

Mon, 2006-07-31 10:46

pepsoid

I think creative people are, in a sense, "special." I have recently been socialising with various types of artists, and there are definitely underlying personality traits. To blow our multi-disciplinary trumpets (!), I think us creative types are generally more open-minded, free-thinking and intelligent than... erm... the rabble! *** pepsoid *** [[[ " It is a pickle, no doubt about it " - The Oracle (The Matrix) ]]]

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Mon, 2006-07-31 10:49

#10

reckless

I do agree with the original proposition; that almost anyone can be a writer if they want to. I don't think it's the result of any special or innate ability. We all have innate ability to employ language; we're hard-wired that way, so then it becomes, in my view, a matter of how much you can learn and practice. But then, I tend to the view that most things can be learned. For instance, most people can learn to draw and paint; most peope can learn a musical instrument. I remember in my snotty school being deprived of the chance to learn a musical instrument because we were told lessons were reserved for 'talented' children; and subsequently teaching myself. I ended up playing better than some of those getting lessons. Like most things, it is down to practice; that's how the human brain learns - by constant repetition. Of course there are degrees, and some people are manifestly better than others (Shakespeare was better than Dryden ...) but on the whole, anyone can learn anything to some level or another.

Mon, 2006-07-31 11:04

#11

maddan

"special" in the politically correct sense maybe. I don't know, I enjoy writing and remain mystified why more people don't do it. I also enjoy drawing but always end up frustrated that I'm not good enough to produce on paper what's in my head, I can't always do that with writing either, but it doesn't seem to bother me so much. Are good writers special? Maybe so, I reckon you have to be fairly smart to write well, I can't think of any other factor and I'm not at all sure about that one.

Mon, 2006-07-31 11:25

#12

pepsoid

I think "creativity" is an innate personality trait... although I'd have to dig out my/my girlfriend's psychology textbooks to see what the official line is! I agree that one can learn the technical skills involved in writing, drawing, playing a musical instrument, sculpting with cheese or whatever, but then having the "talent" to do something "creative" (apologies for all the apostrophes) is a much more complex matter, which raises questions such as, "what is creativity?", "what is beauty?", "what makes a good work of art?"... Over 2U...! *** pepsoid *** [[[ " It is a pickle, no doubt about it " - The Oracle (The Matrix) ]]]

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Mon, 2006-07-31 11:59

#13

2Lou

(Reckless, that's terrible. By 'talented' they probably meant those children that had been sat in front of an instrument from the age of five and were already at grade such and such. Good on ya, for teaching yourself.) I think most people can be taught most things. Whether they get past 'competent,' however, depends on whether they have a knack for it or not. This would go for music (eg. some can play by ear, some people simply can't), carpentry, dance, chess, business... I think the same applies to writers, but, 'Special people?' God, no. "An awful lot of people ......... believe in some crucial spiritual factor, ability or inate talent that has marked them out." Haha, yes. You wouldn't want to be stuck on the table next to that lot, would you.

~
www.fabulousmother.co.uk

Sat, 2006-08-05 00:55

#14

hitchaiku

Bring back the Pedestal !!! The Grins !! The Dribbles ! (Exits for another two years)

Mon, 2006-08-07 00:56

(Reply to #14) #15

Scout

(Recklessâ€™s story reminds me of when I was about to started my A-levels in the sixth form of a new school. New school new me! I thought and cheerily marched over to the music dept and voiced my several-years-old-and-growing-desire to take violin lessons, despite having no musical background but willing to pay if it wasnâ€™t free. The music teacher politely told me that I was too old. Oh the bitter sorrows of teenhood.) But back to the point: yes, I like to believe so. As others here have said, most crafts can be learned and performed very well indeed through a combo of passion and perseverance. But I think that good writers are also wise. No matter how imaginative their worlds or how inventive the language in which theyâ€™re described, these writers have integrity and certain values underlying their work. E.g. how can you give your character a â€˜greatâ€™ speech and expect the reader to take this figure seriously? Whether itâ€™s Hamlet or Albus Dumbledore, if their creator doesnâ€™t have the courage and conviction to support the words then they will surely fall flat, because there will be no heart or emotional depth in the piece. Different writers/people of course have different moral boundaries and agendas, but Iâ€™m sure at least that the writers I admire most are not only talented and inventive and moving, but they also have shrewd powers of observation and wonderful egalitarian values, and I think these people are very special indeed. Scout

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