# What makes a writer? (1 Viewer)



## wacker (Jun 26, 2010)

This is a question I often ask myself. Sometimes I come up with answers like... being able to put words together to form a sentence. Then being able to form sentences to create a paragraph. That is the beginning of being a writer. Yes? No?...

Well when we can form sentences, then paragraphs, the next logical steps would be pages then essays. This will then be followed by articles, short stories, poems. We then have lyrics, scripts, plays, chapters and finally novels.

Throughout this phase of writing you have to be able to make sense. By this I mean you have to be able to write in a  certain way that the reader understands what you are try to say.

To become any way good at your art you have to hone what you are writing. Most importantly you have to practice your writing everyday. If we write for the sake of filling in some space, this will only undermine your creative ability. 

Words like passion, inspiration, creative ability, logic are all part of the writing process and skills which some of us are lucky to have in abundance. For the rest of us though we have to work very hard at attaining these skills.

To help us attain these skills we have to practice very hard. We have to want to improve what skills we currently have, but we also want to learn new skills as well.

Sometimes we see others around us and they seem to be able to tell a story to people. However they seem to have trouble putt pen to  paper. If they had been shown what to do and practice hard enough, they too can transfer their verbal art to written art.
On the other hand there are hose who have this skill already, but are lousy at telling the story in the verbal way. For those people I would say If you are good at the written art then work harder until you are a success, let those who are a success with the verbal story telling enjoy their field of glory.

Well thats enough warbling on from me.. If you have anything further to add or discuss on this topic, feel free to comment.
I would especially like to hear what people have to say is their idea of  what makes a writer.

Wacker


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## JosephB (Jun 26, 2010)

I'd say it's defined by the results -- the writing itself.


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## MEShammas (Jun 26, 2010)

JosephB said:


> I'd say it's defined by the results -- the writing itself.



Agreed completely.


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## Loulou (Jun 26, 2010)

I think many things make a writer.  Some potentially great writers might never write a word.  Something makes certain people actually do it.  A certain spark makes a writer then, both in the way they think, and the fire that drives them to put the words down.  Talent or ability isn't enough.  You have to actually do it.


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## JosephB (Jun 26, 2010)

Yep. You're not a baker until you bake the cake -- but also, I think someone has to eat it and say -- wow, this is good. You're _really _a baker.


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## Loulou (Jun 26, 2010)

Well then bite me, Mr B.


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## JosephB (Jun 26, 2010)

Tasty, I'm sure.


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## Sam (Jun 26, 2010)

"Writers are born, not made". 

Simple as that, actually.


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## JosephB (Jun 26, 2010)

Unless they're in the Mafia.


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## cacafire (Jun 26, 2010)

Write, and you are a writer.
Publish, and you are a published writer.
Make a living off of writing, and you are an author who makes a living off of writing.
Self publish, and you are someone who has self-published.

See how you pretty much are exactly what you are? 

Oh. But you didn't mean that. Well, in that case, you can go to poland. Over there people who write are Grecian gods who are to be worshipped by being fed grapes by busty buxomed girls, all between the ages of 16-19. Well? _Get on with it._ Go. See if I care. (Harumph!)


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## seigfried007 (Jun 26, 2010)

I think you're a writer about as soon as you introduce yourself as one. People who don't write don't introduce themselves as writers, don't talk about their stories (or get called on the BS and stop introducing themselves as writers). It's an issue of personal identity. 

If you introduce yourself as a plumber or a teacher, no one calls you on it. There are no "real" plumbers and teachers; only plumbers and teachers (good or bad ones, maybe, but even bad teachers are not considered less "real"). 

Writing isn't any different. It's not just a profession, it's how a person sees him/herself. 

My profession is "cashier", my identity is "writer", "mother" and "wife". I don't look at myself as a cashier in my soul, but if stop writing, I feel like I am losing parts of my soul, like I am denying a part of myself.


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## Ilasir Maroa (Jun 26, 2010)

A writer is someone who writes.  Period.


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## wacker (Jun 26, 2010)

JosephB  Thanks for your honesty and humorous comments. I liked the banter between yourself and Loulou. It's good to hear from you again.

Helicio    I appreciate your kind comment too. Thanks for replying.

Loulou    It's good hearing back from you too. As above I liked your humorous comments and banter with JosephB. I'm inclined to agree with you that "talent and ability are not enough". I think that we all have the ability to become a writer but, what sort of a writer we become is down to how we study and practice this art. The old expression "we all have a book in us" is true of most people but, only those willing to learn the art, explore their minds and delve deep into their experiences can be the true winners. For they can then tell their story and share it with the world (or those willing to listen... well read their story). Experience though can be a major factor in writing a good book, possibly even go on to create a best seller.

Sam W   In a way I too am inclined to agree with you about "writers are born", but I also believe that people with an excellent knowledge of the English Language and a good life experience can create good material too. Take for instance John Grisham the lawyer turned writer. He utilized his life experience to create some wonderful best sellers. 

Cacafire   I like your humorous take on this subject too. Thank you for commenting.

seigfried007  We can all introduce ourselves as a writer, but only those with the skills are most fortunate to be able to produce decent work. Others though can only manage to produce bad works of art, this is because they have not attempted to learn the trade and thus are classed as bad writers. 

Ilasir Maroa  Yes I agree that a writer is one who writes, to a point. They however have to be able to create something of worth, something that a reader can understand and enjoy. It also has to make sense to the reader otherwise there will be no readership for that potential writer.

Again thank you all for your comments and thoughts on this subject, I look forward to reading your responses to these comments.

Wacker


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## Loulou (Jun 27, 2010)

Sam W said:


> "Writers are born, not made".
> 
> Simple as that, actually.



Agree fully with you, but I'd say writing _talent_ is born, but dedication and the will to actually sit down and do it and do it and do it comes with life experience.


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## seigfried007 (Jun 27, 2010)

> seigfried007 We can all introduce ourselves as a writer, but only those with the skills are most fortunate to be able to produce decent work. Others though can only manage to produce bad works of art, this is because they have not attempted to learn the trade and thus are classed as bad writers.


 
I never said that identifying yourself as a writer means that you write well. Like every other profession, there are those that do something well, and those that don't, those that are not applied, those that take shortcuts and make shoddy work because it sells, those doing the job for money versus doing what they want to be doing for a living...

"Good" and "bad" are all relative. Twilight is shoddy writing but that doesn't make Meyers not a writer. 

Most people writing the really shoddy stuff don't introduce themselves as writers, though. They call themselves "cashiers", "plumbers", "bus drivers", etc. When someone introduces him/herself as a writer before any other form of profession, the person is serious.

Signing credit card slips is writing, but that doesn't make anyone I ring up this afternoon a "writer". Making shopping lists, drafting Team Communications, scribbling Post-It memos, typing e-mails, making a diary entry--all writing but don't make a person a "writer". People who do these things don't walk up to you at parties and say, "I'm a writer because I made a grocery list." 

"Writer" is something in the soul. It's an ongoing identity that yields written words. A person doesn't write one story and become a "writer". One story in a lifetime makes a person "The writer of This Story". It's not about proliferation; it's about an ongoing dedication and fascination with putting letters on a page to be understood by someone else entirely, someone you may never meet. Because written words have lasting power. Because getting a story out makes the person feel pretty damn good. 

By the time a person introduces him/herself as a writer, he/she's put a lot of thought into writing. It's not scribbles and Post-Its to this person. It's a dream and it forms part of that person's identity. The person cares enough to get better (though may not take advice).


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## caelum (Jun 27, 2010)

What _makes_ a writer?  Well. . .  I saw a painting on that very subject not too long ago.  It wasn't very family-friendly.  It was a French painting called the origin of the universe or something.  Don't google it.


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## RomanticRose (Jun 27, 2010)

Biologically speaking, a spermatazoa and an ovum.  After that, there are probably as many answers as there are writers.


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## Loulou (Jun 28, 2010)

I love your signature RomanticRose.  Marilyn is my idol, has been since I was small, and I've like fifty books about her and prints on the wall and plan to go and visit her grave around my fortieth birthday.


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## Olly Buckle (Jun 28, 2010)

Why wait so long Loulou?:wink:

Seriously, my first reaction is that you could drive yourself insane with questions like that.
My second is that the sort of writers Sam is talking about are not made, they have a natural talent for language and simply happen. A writer that is made reads lots and lots of books from an early age and acquires this "feel" for language, not as raw and exciting as the natural talent but very useful. Occasionally someone has both and sparks a fire.


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## The Backward OX (Jun 28, 2010)

What makes a writer _what?_


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## The Backward OX (Jun 28, 2010)

Olly Buckle said:


> the sort of writers Sam is talking about are not made, they have a natural talent for language and simply happen. A writer that is made reads lots and lots of books from an early age and acquires this "feel" for language, not as raw and exciting as the natural talent but very useful.


 
I have a natural talent for language but there's nothing raw and exciting about it. So I'm neither one thing nor the other by your parameters.


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## Loulou (Jun 28, 2010)

Olly Buckle said:


> Why wait so long Loulou?:wink:


 
Ha, I wish it were long! I'll be forty in November. But still have the perversity of a ninteen-year-old....


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## wacker (Jun 28, 2010)

Seigfried007    I get your point. There are many forms of writer both good and bad, creative and natural. We all need to care about our writing, show a little passion towards our craft. I know you didn't say that in order to be a writer you had to write well. This is only true if you want to be a successful writer. 

I think everyone of us at sometime in our lives have written badly. We improve our grasp of the English language over time and learn to write more creatively, thus improving our writing skills all the time.

wacker


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## wacker (Jun 28, 2010)

Caelum I like your quirky take on the subject. Incidentally, why not Google it? Is it that horrible words couldn't do it justice? LOL

Thanks for responding

RomanticRose Thanks for your reply. Like Loulou I too like your signature quote.

Olly Buckle                 





> Seriously, my first reaction is that you could drive yourself insane with questions like that.
> My second is that the sort of writers Sam is talking about are not made, they have a natural talent for language and simply happen. A writer that is made reads lots and lots of books from an early age and acquires this "feel" for language, not as raw and exciting as the natural talent but very useful. Occasionally someone has both and sparks a fire.



I have to agree whole heartily with what you have said. I only wish I was one of the lucky one who had both a feel for the language and natural talent.

The Backward Ox   If you feel theres nothing "raw and exciting" about having natural talent, then I would suggest that you do something about it. Look for something or someone to inspire you and feed that passion, or rather to turn your natural talent on fire.

Loulou    Darling, you only look around thirty years old. Either way, you LOOK GORGEOUS for your age.

Again, thank you all for your response and look forward to reading more comments.

Wacker


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## Steerpike (Jun 28, 2010)

I agree with those who have defined it simply - if you write, you are a writer. Seems evident enough to me.

As to what makes one a good writer...well, opinions on that question are about as diverse as the people offering the opinion


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## The Backward OX (Jun 29, 2010)

wacker said:


> turn your natural talent on fire.


 
Oh dear oh dear. Excuse me while I wipe my eyes. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying. Maybe I could bed a virgin or two while I'm about it.


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## Olly Buckle (Jun 29, 2010)

The Backward OX said:


> I have a natural talent for language but there's nothing raw and exciting about it. So I'm neither one thing nor the other by your parameters.



Different as usual.


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