To Be A Writer: Is It A Talent You Are Born With Or Can It Be Created?
I have always said that I do not have an aptitude for languages and my creative writing absolutely sucks. Making my nightmare worse here on steemit is the fact that English is my second language and there is nothing flowing naturally from this limited database of mine.
I was crazy enough to put my "Brave girl panties" on and enrolled for an English course this semester. What a challenge this is going to be . . . . with my first week of assignments, I already started to sweat blood, learning some very important grammar rules, having to read a few articles and giving my opinion on the discussion board about what I have learned from it. The worst of all by far for this week was the "love letter" to an object I had to compile. It took me hours trying to suck some creative juices from "who knows where all" to complete this assignment.
This week's reading and discussion board assignment included four articles of which "Born to Write" by Hal Zina Bennett was my chosen one as he argues against the idea that writing is a magical gift bestowed on a few. What I have learned from this article and by studying up a bit more on the net about the subject, opened up a whole new world for me. I now have the confidence and belief that I too with hard work and determination can become a better author here on steemit.
The article "Born to Write" started off with a quote by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi which I feel is incredibly encouraging and true: "When we choose a goal and invest ourselves in it to the limits of our concentration, whatever we do will be enjoyable. And once we have tasted this joy, we will redouble our efforts to taste it again. This is the way the self grows."
Being born with a talent or an aptitude for writing can surely assist in making the task easier, but often we see in nearly every discipline that talent without passion, determination and hard work fades along the way. Stephen King had this to say about talent: “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” The Famous John Irving, an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter said the following about his talent: “I wouldn’t say I have a talent that’s special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina.”
I always felt quite content in saying that I do not have the aptitude for languages or creative writing, but yesterday after reading these words below, I had to face the reality that I have always been making an excuse, taking the easy way out of which there is none. Barbara Baig in “The Talent Myth, The Writer, April 2012” explained: “Talent, I have long told my students, is the assumptions we make about other people’s abilities that keep us from developing our own.”
We all here on steemit can develop a talent or aptitude for writing with the endless supply of tools available at our fingertips. It requires of us to seek the knowledge in the craft of writing, obtaining the necessary knowledge of the chosen subject, and knowing what our niche is. We need to practice a little self-belief (we are all original and have some value to add), build up the courage and take the bull by its horns with the sheer determination to succeed.
I wish you all who struggles with English writing good luck and will leave you with the words by Sylvia Plath: “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
Please drop me a line in the reply box as I would love to hear your voice on this topic!
Keep smiling, reading, writing and voting!!!
.. I always has a self-doubt ... thats is really my enemy. .. and English is my 2nd language which is kinda hard for me to make a good article ' ... but thanks for this i learned something. .
Roykie17, I know you will get better as you practice writing here on steemit. The only advice I can give you is to read a lot and keep a notebook where you write new words which you have learned from your reading. Make it a goal to learn 5 new words a day.
thank u for the tips... i will do that...
This is really nice, thanks for sharing. English is my second language also , it's difficult to come up with good write ups most times but I just relax ,sit back and you my own to think . What ever comes out then I can edit to make sure it's good to be posted . I haven't really done much posting but I would catch up . Thanks for the inspiration. It would be nice if you can check out my page and see if you enjoy some of my post and support from time to time . Thanks again.
Cheers
Thank you janrotas, I appreciate this comment and will go look at your posts.
@crazymumzysa People with Talent exist and they don't need to work hard to be good at something, but that is actually a problem with talented people they can only be good if they don't work hard. Most talented people get praised for they natural gift and think they do not need hard work. Someone who is not talented but loves working hard can destroy talent at any time.
Thank you, redbikk. A person with talent has that something special which you just cannot get even with dedication and hard work. I have 3 boys, all of them playing the recorder, piano and guitar. Each one of them can make one of these instruments sing so beautifully that it touches your soul and gives you goosebumps. For my oldest it is the guitar, for the second one it is the flute, and for my last born, it is the piano. When comparing a talented person with one who had to work hard, you can pick up the difference. The one who works hard will technically have no flaws but yet it will not touch your inner being as the talented one would.
I don't think it's a born gift, I certainly believe writing is something you might be prone to, but if you're not connected to what you're writing, it will never be as powerful. Writing needs to an honest exposure of the writer, when pen touches paper, the ink should be the glue which holds that writers soul to his words. I think this ability comes about the same as any art form does, with desire, practice, and integrity.
Thank you so much for these true words, migzillion: " ....when pen touches paper, the ink should be the glue which holds that writers soul to his words." I have experienced while writing on steemit that when my heart and soul is not in a post, my audience does not enjoy it as much. It is also so much harder for me to order my thoughts and be creative if I am not in the right mind. I often feel guilty for not producing quality work.
You don't need to feel guilty, the quality is only a matter of truth - if you were honest in what you wrote, it should be the only requirement!
well great strategy to work on and develop on itself
Thank you very much and good luck, gkumar.
upvoted and follow :) i hope u upvote and follow me :)
Well, writing. I can't say much just that with any other activity, you have to put in your best, and that applies to writing as well.
Great post there. Kudos.
Thank you krystalzone. True, all we do requires hard work.
You have got really creative talent. Nice post @crazymumzysa
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Thank you very much, ambmicheal. I truly appreciate your support. Enjoy a lovely week!