What does it take to be a writer?
We can facilitate the process through reading literature and taking creative writing courses.
How important is creative ability?
I believe the best authors have, Compassion.
What does it take to be a writer?
We can facilitate the process through reading literature and taking creative writing courses.
How important is creative ability?
I believe the best authors have, Compassion.
The best traditional writers have an insight into the human psyche. Austen, Dickens, Conrad, James, Eliot etc.
Shakespeare had excellent insight. He knew about good and bad leadership. The good leadership of Henry V to the bad leadership of King Lear. I believe Shakespeare would have been a vey good leader.
Shakespeare planned well. He knew the audience he was writing for. He catered for those that could afford to see his plays and earned his living accordingly.
The best traditional authors drew their inspiration from personal experiences. They were absorbed in life and relationships. I believe that if some of the traditional authors were alive today, they would make excellent psychologists.
It's hard work, isn't it? Everything else is pretty insignificant unless you can set it all down on paper.
That old quote 'genius is...' seems to hold true for the best writers who manage seriously literate prose in, and here's the tough part, a reasonable timescale.
I've published passages I'm quite proud of, and others which are just okay. Maybe I could improve the latter with time, but how much better would they be? And in the grand scheme of things would it be worth the wait?
I thought I was something of a perfectionist...until I started to write. Perhaps one prerequisite of a writer is the ability to know what is enough.
Excellent question.
I agree with you that compassion is an important trait for a writer. For a *good* writer I mean.
Honesty and compassion are required if a writer is to be able to reach beyond trite cliches and banal observations and get to the heart of human nature (literature is all about gaining insights into human nature, is it not?).
Note I am not referring to commercial, entertainment - chick lit, action thrillers, fantasy, sci-fi - which serve a different purpose and possess qualities that are different from the ones we seek out in literature. These works serve as a distraction, as a way of escaping for a while, the issue of human nature.
Every so often a sci-fi writer such as Phillip K Dick comes along and combines the two (or is even sui generis). In his case he used sci-fi to address philosophical questions,and did so honestly and compassionately. He was entertaining and thought provoking. A rare genius.
Just my two cents worth.....