WRITING|CREATIVE WRITING
Is Talent All a Writer Needs?
Why having a natural ability to write might not be enough sometimes
Most writers, whether published or not, whether working only on Medium or elsewhere, dream of being successful. That success can take many forms, but ultimately we want to be read. Writing is a solitary activity whose outcome we then share with the rest of the world.
The question that follows therefore is, how can we ensure true, enduring success in one of the most competitive and difficult professions there is?
Most people will say that being talented is the must-have quality that guarantees a place in the literary canon.
That might well be right, but in my opinion, three other qualities help us navigate the perilous waters of writing, draft submission, and editorial response.
Sticking it out
Writing can sometimes feel like an uphill struggle. Just to generate interesting ideas that will engage readers is exhausting. Many writers burn out too quickly. My advice is to keep producing. Even when one feels one has nothing to say, there’s still a lot to say. We just need to choose different words. Sometimes we might even opt for words we don’t necessarily use or that we are used to. Experiment and see where that path leads you.
There are days when I’m away from my laptop or my PC. But I still carry my phone with me where I note down ideas. I also have notepads in various panniers. That means that in one of those idle moments when too much cycling forces me to pause and take a break, I still have an outlet for my creativity.
Sticking it out means that you fall in love with your writing eventually. The longer you stay in the game, the more those sentences and phrases will become close friends who will watch over you like guardian angels. These sentences and phrases want you to succeed because that will ensure their longevity. Everybody wins.
Patience
We live in an impatient society. Delivery companies promise a “five minutes from shop to door” experience. Small wonder that so many delivery scooter riders and cyclists jump red lights and ride on pavements scaring the bejesus out of pedestrians. We want our stuff now. We demand it.
Writing is not like Amazon or Just Eat. To write well we have to revise well. This takes time. Don’t be afraid to sit on a piece for a few days, even a few weeks. I recently had two boosted posts. They were not written overnight. It took weeks and at least three or four revisions (plus a positive interaction with the editors) before they saw the light.
Being patient with ourselves also means being kind to ourselves. It means going easy on our first clumsy attempts at chiselling out our draft. Forget instant gratification. Focus on long-term gain. Cut, edit, revise. Don’t be afraid to put your essay or manuscript aside for some time. When you come back to it you’ll see it in a different, much clearer light.
Mess
There are two kinds of mess. The first one is the general type. It affects most human beings. Look at the world now. It’s a mess. At a subjective level, this has a detrimental effect on our concentration levels.
The second kind of mess is an internal one. This is the type that gets in the way of our creative projects. The beginning of an article can feel as if we are walking through a dense fog in the middle of a London winter morning. Doubts creep in. I’ve got the main idea, but words are not coming in the right order.
My advice is to write as many drafts as you can. From one of these, your truth will emerge. This is the truth at the heart of the piece, the component around which all the other parts orbit.
Mess is not always a negative influence. After all, we all lead messy lives. For non-fiction writers, the mess can be a conduit for their creativity. We all have parents who die, friends who are struck by the big C (as in cancer), and some of us have been witness to the horrors of war. Mine these themes. See where they take you. Out of chaos, order.
Talent is important. But talent without a long-term plan, patience and the ability to turn our messy lives into a coherent and well-articulated draft counts for nothing. Remember, writing should never be equated with fast food. It’s a three-course meal with a yummy dessert at the end.
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