Is good writing innate? Or is it learned?
And if it’s both, what’s the balance between the two? Which is more important?
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Anonymous says
Learned, of course!
Those people fortunate enough to be given lots of verbal stimulation and good books at a very young age will have a huge advantage.
But I don’t believe writing talent can be called “innate.”
Kat says
It’s like nature v nurture.
I think some people are born with a drive to write, but unless it’s nurtured (parents emphasizing a love of reading, positive reinforcement and feedback on the development of voice and talent) the writer will not thrive.
😉
pjd says
As with any craft or skill, good writing is learned.
Many aspects of being a good writer are innate or so deeply ingrained from influences during our early years that they seem innate, however. You can teach a person the mechanics of observing, for example, but you can’t necessarily turn an unobservant person into an observant one. You can teach techniques to elicit creative ideas from dullards, but you can’t turn a dullard into a creative person. You can give a person a hundred books on plot and story arc, but you can’t necessarily turn them into a “natural” storyteller.
Greatness has a strong aspect of innate ability and deeply ingrained character traits. Goodness, however, can be learned in nearly any skill. Even people with no hands can play the guitar well. But even good guitar players with all ten fingers can’t become Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton without certain innate abilities.
So it is with writing.
Taylor K. says
I think it’s a combination of both, but with more emphasis on “learned”. The only way to get really good at writing (for 99% of us anyways) is to just keep doing it. Most writers (myself included) know that the first things they ever wrote were just terrible. Things only get good when you keep at it.
That said, there is the occasional rare talent that can write amazing works from the start (S.E. Hinton is the first that comes to mind), but that’s a rarity.
Robena Grant says
Hmmmm? I think storytelling is innate, but one must then learn the craft of writing before being able to put those stories to paper.
There are many storytellers who can hold an audience captive in the bar but could never get published. *grin* There are also authors who can craft a book but are not true storytellers.
How’s that for wishy-washy?
Raethe says
I’m gonna go with “both”; I think people are naturally more inclined to do some things than others, as far as both desire and actual ability goes. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that learning is more important, though. There’s a lot to be said for honing craft, and even more to be said for being *willing* to hone craft. All the ability in the world won’t get you very far if you don’t have the desire to use and improve it.
Lil says
born.
craft is only half learned, half already known.
Keri Ford says
I’m with Robena. Storytelling is innate, writing must be learned.
Are we cheating again??
Chro says
Good writing is almost entirely learned.
Being stupid enough to pursue a career in it… that’s likely the result of a mutated gene, I’m afraid. 😉
Jill says
I believe “good writing”, as in, the great works of literature or poetry that grab you like no others, is innate the way musical talent is innate. No child, without training, can pick up a violin and know what to do with it, but take two people, train them on it – identical lessons – and one may be the next Itzahk Perlman and the next will just be – well, me!
I believe writing is like that. Two people can have exactly the same training, and one will be the next John Steinbeck and one will be… oh yeah, me. !!!
ekpngn says
10% born, 90% taught. But it’s an important 10%.
Kate Lord Brown says
I’ve always thought of writing like a lightning field – you can’t determine the strikes, but you can attract and direct them (through inhaling every book you can lay your hands on and practice, practice, practice …)
Dan says
BORN.
You can’t learn talent (which is why neither of us is in the NBA, Nathan) – but you can refine it.
Anonymous says
Goood writers are taught; great writers are born.
elizaw says
I think the drive to write is innate, or at least it can be. I’ve always told stories: where most children would take paper and scribble, I wrote page after page of imaginary letters (lots of Xs, Os, and Ps included).
I wrote my first book when I was thirteen. It was atrociously bad. Just yesterday I found a first draft of an idea that led to my current project. It was also pretty terrible. Good writing has to be learned.
The desire to want to learn good writing comes with personality, experience, and character, though. And one’s personality stylizes their voice and makes something unique.
I think that good writers are taught. Phenomenal writers are born and taught.
Heidi the Hick says
I think some of us are born storytellers but it takes a lot of practice and learning and experience and living and reading and mistakes and improvements to become a good writer.
Comparisons: I can teach anybody how to steer a horse and basically stay on, but not everybody has natural balance, or a good rapport with horses.
My husband could get a decent vocal out of anybody if he had months to coach them through it, but some people will need to be edited one syllable at a time, and others will bust out a great performance.
Having a talent for something is a starting point, but it’s not everything.
Maureen says
I think writers are born with the talent, and training can obviously refine and cultivate that talent. But one thing I think you absolutely cannot learn is how to tell a good story. That is a gift you either have or you don’t.
Mark Terry says
Storytelling is probably innate, although you might be able to learn it.
In terms of writing itself, it can be learned and needs to be honed.
I think the best analogy I got from Stephen King, who ripped it off from somebody else. Talent is like a knife. No matter how big, if you sharpen and hone it, it’ll cut what you want it to. But some people are born with big freakin’ knives. (He goes on to suggest that sometimes people with big freakin’ knives that don’t get sharpened sometimes seem to break, too).
Scott says
Whenever I see this question, I think, “Oh, if only it were that simple.”
I can’t draw. I could probably take art lessons and learn the skills to draw and paint, and I could work hard at it and get pretty good at it and maybe even become really good, but I couldn’t paint a Mona Lisa.
I can’t sing. I couldn’t find a key in a locksmith shop. I could take voice lessons and develop my ear and work hard and learn to sing on key and sound good and make people say they wish I could sing like I can, but I couldn’t become a Pavarotti.
I think there’s something about artists that’s innately different than “normal” people. Maybe it’s a thinner barrier between the conscious and subconscious, I don’t know.
I see it all the time in technical writing. I’ve worked with some people who are really good at structuring a document and providing clear, grammatically sound instructions, but they lack a certain hard-to-describe language ability that some others have. I’ve worked with other people who have a decent vocabulary and never misspell a word or make a grammar error but they can’t write worth beans. No matter what they do, and how hard they work at it, their sentences lack flow and feel clunky, even though the most astute English teacher couldn’t find a mistake in the way the sentences are put together.
I believe in talent. I also believe in hard work. I’ve known people who aren’t natural athletes who have a love for whatever game it is and work hard and become very good.
Same with writers. I think there are writers with innate language and imaginative abilities, people who can make their work look effortless (although it almost never is). I also think there are people who love to write and maybe don’t have that extra in-born oomph who can work really hard and create good, even great work. But they’ll never be the Ozzie Smith of the literary world.
Fortunately, there can ever only be one best at a time, and you can still excel without being The Great One. And, whatever level of innate talent somebody has, it’s the hard work that leads to success. We’ve all known people with incredible abilities who don’t work hard at it and never reach their potential.
KristiKae says
Anyone can become technically proficient as a writer, provided he or she is willing to put in the time and effort, but true greatness requires a spark that cannot be manufactured or wished into being.
FireworksNut says
They are born. You can’t teach someone how to tell a good story. Sorry. Just ask the thousands of unpublished authors who have been trying for years.
Good grammar, of course, can be taught, but that’s such a small part in creating a good piece of work someone besides your husband would want to read.
Ryan Field says
I think it’s innate, and then practice makes it better.
Because if it’s not innate, then why on earth would anyone want to do it?
If I’d scored as high in math and science on my SAT’s as I did in English, I’d be running a cosmetic surgery practice in Beverly Hills instead of clicking on a keyboard all day, alone, wondering when the check’s going to be in the mail.
Oh, I’m sure if I’d really studied hard and wrecked my brain I could have “learned” to be a plastic surgeon. But there would probably be an awful lot of bad nose jobs on Rodeo Drive.
Elyssa Papa says
Talent is born with writing stories. You can learn to write better in grammar, etc., no question about it. But after teaching writing to students, you see the students who have a natural gift for writing and storytelling and those that… don’t.
It’s like this: I’ve always been able to tell a story, and my sister is a fabulous baker/math whiz. She can cook things sooo good that it makes my mouth water. You give me the same recipe (which I follow to the tee) — it does not turn out the same. My sister has a gift with cooking; there’s something about her food that makes you want to eat it and satisfies you. As opposed to my cooking that barely gets you by.
So, people can write. But the difference is this: some writers will fill you up, while others just leave you picking, while you look longingly at the other dinner.
Writing is a natural born gift. You either have it or you don’t.
Rollie Raleigh says
Sorry for being redundant – in this group, one had best post quickly. When I started my original post there were only two comments. My phone ‘rangeth over’ before I could finish.
Rollie Raleigh says
I agree with David E. Kelley. In an interview a few years back, he answered this question in favor of innate ability. His Hollywood experiences drove him to conclude that many earning a living writing were not good writers, while unknowns and others, never to be known, possessed fine writing talent. His explanation for lesser writers working included fortuitous relationships, the insular community, and luck. He concluded his argument citing story tellers, embraced by civilizations throughout history, as the born writers of antiquity.
It seems reasonable to believe that creativity and imagination follow a bell curve similar to athletic ability. One can only improve through work and practice, but Nathan, or I, or most among us could never practice enough to play center for an NBA team. That said, the reading public does not demand the perfection of play required by the pro BB fan, so the average among us have hope.
In sum, I believe for writing, like most endeavors, a hardworking, good-talent can overcome a slothful great-talent, but endowment limits the ceiling of accomplishment.
Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy says
It is a combination of both; writers – or those with a potential to become a writer – are born with a particular bent toward storytelling and an aptitude for words. These qualities, if nurtured, are the foundation for becoming a writer. Many people don’t – they simply are people who are avid readers or love words or teach school. Others, however, whose inate and inborn talents are nurtured, become writers.
No one becomes a published, working, successful writer with blind talent alone. Honing that gift, learning the craft, and working at writing all come into play as well so it is truly both.
Writers are born and then they are taught.
Merry Monteleone says
They are born, and then they bust their ass for an awful long time to make it to the ever longed for position of “publishable”.
Percentage – I think innate talent is more important than hard work, if you’re breaking down the percentages… maybe 60-40… hard to try to put your finger on it, but a person with no innate talent will never learn to write in a compelling way… there’s something in the voice, that indescribable spark, it’s either there or it’s not… but, I think there are a lot of people out there who have that innate talent and never do anything with it – so you can’t discount the importance of honing your craft, it’s just as important, but hard work alone won’t make you a great writer.
I’m somewhat the same with the nature versus nurture debate – I think they’re both important… but then there’s that spark in there – in this case, personal responsibility and free choice.
How’s that for a convoluted answer?
JES says
From a psych course in college, I remember the terms “predisposing factors” (things which are in place from the outset) and “precipitating factors” (i.e., triggers, or things which tip the balance to a new state or condition). The subject was abnormal psych, so of course — OF COURSE — there’s no direct analogy to writing. *cough*
But I think people who become writers must have been predisposed to it. There are too many examples of great writers who had little or no nurturing which contributed to their facility with words and storytelling.
Which begs the question: How common is it to be predisposed to writing, but never to experience the precipitating event or experience which makes one fall off the edge into the real thing?
Kristin Laughtin says
I agree with Scott. I practiced drawing and singing for years, and never showed any grand improvement because I was not born with those talents. Yet I know people who were born with the ability to sing the most beautiful songs and draw amazingly. And though I lack those talents, I’ve always had a big imagination and made up stories.
I think, therefore, that there’s a balance between the innate and the learned. Technical writing–grammar, spelling, structure, etc–is mostly learned. Some pick it up more quickly than others, but no one is born knowing how to construct a perfect document. But one can write a linguistically flawless piece that lacks any life. The storytelling aspect can be learned and practiced to an extent, but one can’t force or learn creativity or imagination. So both inborn and learned skills are necessary to write a really good story.
Skinny Monkey says
Imagination is inherited…
Mechanics are learned.
Beosig says
Almost anyone can be taught to be a good writer. However, to be a great writer you need great stories and plenty of imagination. I feel this comes naturally. Greatness is the combination of what comes naturally and what can be learned.
Anonymous says
Learned.
No one is born with a shining vocabulary or command of voice and language. Also, “good” or “great” writing is so subjective that it can never be formalized into any category or criteria – if there was a formula, everyone would follow it and there’d be no more standout authors.
So many of us on this blog can’t stand the hailed “great” authors that routinely produce two best-sellers a year for ungodly paydays. Yet these authors are still tagged as natural story-tellers, nevermind the fact that they’re telling the same story over and over.
Maybe there’s a certain unmapped bit of DNA that draws a person to writing by allowing that person to be passionate about writing but that doesn’t count. It still takes hard work and resiliancy.
Dwight says
File me with Kat’s tribe.
Nurtured nature.
Dan says
I think Scott (10:00) is hitting a point most of ‘storytellers are born, writers are taught’ comments are missing. His comment got me thinking that my answer should be choice D – other.
If the answer really was “learned, born, or both” – there’d be no such thing as bad or mediocre and the standard deviation surrounding average would be pretty small. Yet that’s not the case.
You can be taught how to do anything up to the level of being serviceable, and talent certainly makes that climb easier.
However, only ambition makes you ‘good’ – not because you’ve become better than anybody else, but because you always try to be better than yourself.
pth says
A combination of both. I think grammar and mechanics are learned but style is something you either have or you don’t. It’s like any other art. When I watch my cousin play the piano, it’s evident that it’s a learned skill for her and not a gift. She might hit all the right notes, but it’s not artistic. Same holds true for some writers. You can almost read the struggle behind the words. For others, you reread lines just to relive the experience.
Elyssa Papa says
I’ll speak on the nurture topic to dispel that writing needs to be nurtured. My writing was not nurtured when I was growing up at all and certainly not when I was in college or the years following.
I didn’t have anyone pushing me to write, no one telling me that I should write.
I did it all on my own. I knew I could write. I knew I had stories in my head. I write because this is who I am–if I didn’t push myself to be a writer, no one else would. You have to have the talent to be a writer and you need to have the determination, talent and bit of luck to become a published one.
Jolie says
I think that for everyone, it’s a combination, but the combination isn’t the same for any two people.
I saw one commenter say that storytelling ability is innate, and writing ability is learned. For me I think maybe it’s the opposite. My ability to use language is innate. The rest (particularly storytelling) has been learned.
The very first commenter said writing talent isn’t innate, but isn’t what defines talent? Talent is what you’re born with; skill is what you develop. You need both to write well, but not everyone will have the same talents vs. skills. We’re all born with different talents and have to work at developing different skills.
borther says
Like all arts and crafts it’s an innate talent that is made better through learning.
There’s nothing innate in the ability to write, but there is something innate in the ability to choose topics that universally mean something, as well as the ability to twist learned words into a beautiful or twisted image that actually effects people.
Sam says
Good writing comes from a mixture of the following:
1. Talent (a quirk of birth, really)
2. Knowledge of the craft (mostly learned)
3. Determination (sheer mental will, people)
My theory – which I’ve just this second made up – is that if you mark each quality out of ten, you need a score greater than 23.5 to write good writing. (The Greats – Tolstoy et al – would have scores of 29 or 30).
Joseph L. Selby says
This applies to so many things, not just writing. There are the talented. There are the educated. Then there are those that are talented and educated. The educated must work twice as hard to be half as good as the talented. But neither can even compare to those with both talent and education.
shariwrites says
You have to learn to be a writer. Given that, many, many, many people have taken writing courses and still aren’t and never will be great writers. There is something inherent (in the ability to tell a story and string words together) in great writers that goes beyond mere learning.
And, like Sam says, you can’t discount persistence.
Kate H says
I believe it’s both. You have to have a certain complex of traits that add up to talent, and you also have to work to develop the talent. I think the greatest geniuses, however, are mostly self-taught.
Jeanne Ryan says
There are three parts of this issue I’d like to address. The first is the importance of being read to and reading on your own. A big part of writing is unconsciously influenced by what we read, thus learned.
The second are the differences between people that leads to becoming writers. Not every child read to will become a writer or even a voracious reader as an adult. There has to be innate characteristics that lead to this difference. Attention span, ability to absorb and process oral/visual stimuli, creativity, and determination are just a few of these characteristics.
Another is opportunity. Innate creativity can be channeled all sorts of ways. As long as it is expressed some way, the psyche is content. Writers fall in love with writing, perhaps because of their limited or negative experiences with other forms of creativity.
Amie Stuart says
Good writing is taught/learned. Storytelling I believe you’re born with (or not!).
Gregory LeFever says
I have to come down on the side of “born.”
Certainly you can teach people the rules of grammar and the mechanics of plot and character development. And what you’ll get is someone technically proficient. You will not get an artist.
The ability to recognize and develop stories is in the blood. That’s why some superb writers have scanty academic records and some professors of English are terrible writers.
April says
I agree with what Kat said. I believe that most people who write are born with the passion to do so. Fine tuning their talents must be learned – I doubt there are any authors out there who got published without any practice, without doing some research, without talking and networking with other writers and agents, and without quite possibly reading books about how to write. And not just books on writing, but other books within their genre.
Will Entrekin says
My advisor, Sid Stebel (“The greatest writing teacher that ever was.” -Ray Bradbury), has a neat e-mail signature:
“Talent can’t be taught, but writing can.”
I pretty much agree. Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. You can dedicate yourself to the craft and the discipline and the skill, all of which encompass that 99%, but none of those quite account for that final, nebulous 1% that, no, can’t be taught.
R.C. says
I think the truly great, one-in-a-generation kind of writers are born with a unique gift of insight and creativity that sets them apart.
I think anyone can learn/work hard and be a successful writer. But maybe that is just wishful thinking.
Genius, in anything, is born.
Other Lisa says
I’d say it’s both (and I agree with those who list “passion” and “ambition” as additional factors).
Part of what I think you are born with relates to musicality – your “ear” for language, your sense of tone and rhythm.
Scott says
Dan (10:52) makes a good point about ambition.
It’s like running track. Anybody who’s competed in track or something like it will understand. You want to win. You want to be the best. But sometimes you come up against somebody who’s better, and not everybody’s going to be the best.
But, if you beat your best time and finish third, you’ve had a GREAT race. And sometimes it takes going up against somebody better to push us to do our best.
Most of us are still trying to qualify for the writing track meet, but if we’re constantly getting better, we’re doing the right things.
So, Dan clarified part of what I tried to say earlier. It’s ambition, that need to constantly improve, that gets us beyond whatever limits we have.
But still, there are those Ozzie Smiths who have something extra none of us will ever have. It’s not fair, but we can learn from the Ozzies and work hard and try to get as close as we can.
Unlike baseball or track, steroids just ain’t gonna make the difference for a writer.