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| Porträt Baudelaires by Gustave Courbet |
I’m always fascinated by what makes artists tick.
It’s not always a rational pursuit, in fact it’s usually the opposite of a rational pursuit. It’s not something you can prove ahead of time in numbers or formulas or a plan you know is going to work. You’re operating on gut instinct and some ideas and a whole lot of faith.
So what’s the most important quality a writer can possess? What do writers have in common?
There are a lot that spring to mind, but I’m going with determination.
What about you?
insanity, humility, follow-through, and talent.
Imagination. Without imagination, you can be as determined as you like, but you'll have nothing to be persisten about.
Can't believe someone called this blog boring. It's one of my favorites. I always look forwards to posts. I think someone is jealous of Nathan's success…
There are many great attributes listed here already, but for me, personally, writing(and music) just seem the light that makes the day worth while. I say love, for your work, for the process, for the journey–waiting for that moment of completion. I beleive an artist should feel just as excited and checked in on word 1 as on word 100,000.
Yes, re-posted.
So, it took awhile for me to think about the mean anon comment and Nathan's response.
I have a bunch of things to say.
1. anon 9:28, I wish Nathan was posting more too, for my own sake, but there are many blogs on the internet. You can go to one of those rather than leaving a hurtful, inappropriate comment on a fellow author's blog who gives of his limited time to provide something to you for free. It's fine that you have an opinion, but I hope you'll re-think comments like that.
2. Nathan is never boring.
3. Last I checked, there were over 74 likes on this post. So, there you go.
But when the ticking stops, run for cover!
Anonymous 9:28 am, your comment is boring.
I agree with you Nathan…Determination a very important quality. It is what separates the writers from authors. We can all be writers, but to go that extra step, we need to be entirely unwavering in our decision to be…well, what we are.
Also, the ability to accurately critique our own work helps.
Nathan! Oh my gosh! The last time I checked on you, you were an agent who'd just gotten a book deal. And now you're a published writer! I'm so proud of you.
Hmm. I think the most important quality a writer can have is a practical mindset. Not positive. Not negative. Practical. This means taking an honest look at our work and discovering our strengths and weaknesses. Choosing to own and cultivate what makes us shine and knowing that whatever faults we have, from shyness about marketing to difficulty with dialog, we can overcome them IF! If we work hard and develop a knack for creative problem solving.
It means knowing that succeeding is probably going to be difficult, that there will be setbacks along the way, but that if we keep plugging along, we might just be rewarded. And knowing that whatever happens, it's worth it just to be able to put that pen to paper or open that Word document every day.
An observant eye.
Yes I'd also say "passion". Passion and Persistence are like 1 and 1A. You need to have this burning desire to tell your story and have it be remembered, or you end up being one of those people that never get around to writing the damn thing. And you have to care enough about it to trade your sanity in to make it the best it can be through revision.
For me, I think it has to be that you have to WANT to write, more than anything else you could do instead. It can't be something you feel like doing every once in a while, when the creative mood strikes you; you need to want to do it so badly that the only way people could stop you writing would be to break both your arms. And drug you unconscious – just to make sure…
If you've got that, everything else you need will come with it.
Chocolate also helps ;^)