The question ‘What is more Important for a Writer‘ is very important for writers, especially for beginners. They doubt whether to start writing, whether they have a talent for writing, whether they will be able to create something.
What is Writing Talent?
Talent, in general, is a giftedness, outstanding abilities, which are manifested in a certain field of activity.
The talent in writing is not only a desire to write and work with words but also an intuitive ability to choose a suitable idea, create an interesting story or an image that is especially evident in those who do not have the proper literary education.
The talent for creativity is inherent in everybody by nature. The main thing is to find it in yourself and develop it.
How to Develop the Talent of a Writer, if You want to Write Novels
#1 Read
Read a lot. First, the classics, then, the books that are close to you in terms of the genre of literature, and then, books on literary mastery. Ray Bradbury noticed that he was educated at the library.
At the faculty of philology, you learn not how to write but how to read. Implicitly and unconsciously you learn not only linguistic norms, but also literary devices for creating an image, a plot, developing a conflict, and genre features.
#2 Think
Read carefully and thoughtfully, do not go through a book quickly over one evening. Discuss with yourself the actions of the characters and their influence on the development of the plot and the formation of the image.
Predict the ending. Continue the story after you finish reading it. Think of an alternative line using the favorite images.
At school literature lessons, you had to reflect on what you read. All this develops not only work with images and plot, but also the habit of thinking, analyzing, and drawing conclusions. This is the most important writing skill.
#3 Write
Write every day – posts for blogs, comments, and thoughts, essays-observations, short stories or articles, sketches of episodes for stories, or novels.
The longer you work with a written word, the more familiar and easier it will be for you to gather and express your thoughts. Open this list of 100 compare and contrast essay topics and try to write an essay on each of the topics. This will help you develop your writing skills.
#4 Do not doubt
Do not doubt. If the writer’s path is to your liking, if you want to tell many interesting stories, put aside your fears and doubts and get involved in the work. However, do not forget about discipline.
What is the Writing Discipline and Why do You Need it?
Discipline is the ability to seize yourself for work at any time and finish what you need to do.
If you are tired to death and don’t want to be near a computer, or simply want to use it to play, check your social networks, or watch a movie, you still have to make yourself write every day.
Working on discipline and the habit of writing is necessary, otherwise, your grandiose creative plans will remain plans. So, to develop discipline, do the following:
- Disconnect the internet. Forget about games, social networks, and so on. To have something, you need to sacrifice something because of our time, unfortunately, is limited. It is necessary to be able to choose. Choose a novel (discipline) or chatter in social networks (laziness). Have you chosen? Disconnect the internet if you cannot otherwise.
- Start with something small. If you have not written at all, start with essays or stories. If you have some writing experience, start with a couple of paragraphs for a potential novel. Write 5–7 sentences. You can always find a half an hour to do that. Once accustomed to this rule, increase the number of sentences you need to write a day. Gradually, you will have a habit. You won’t resist working, it will be easy for you to write, and you will get pleasure from writing. You won’t need to make yourself sit down and write anymore, and instead of five sentences, you can easily write a couple of pages.
- Carrot and a stick. Laziness is the main enemy of discipline and it must be defeated. However, everything is good in moderation. Do not lock yourself in a room where you will make yourself write. Do not write if you feel unwell, take breaks (a day or two) between chapters or parts to catch your breath. Praise yourself for the work done.
If you do not write, then think over the story, if you do not ponder, then read the necessary literature. But if you really want to develop a writer’s talent, then it is necessary to work a lot on your discipline.
What is more important – a talent or a discipline?
Talent is certainly important. Someone is more talented than others. But without discipline, talent will remain undeveloped. Not getting used to working without gaining experience, you won’t know how much of it you have – for a dozen published books or a couple of collections of short stories or poems.
Talent is the engine and discipline is the ability to start the engine. Thus, both talent and discipline are important if you want to have a successful writing career and become a famous writer.
There are writers who, having a technical background and half a lifetime working in programming, started writing fantasy in their 40s. But there are also those who received the literary education, had interesting ideas, but was too lazy to start writing. In the end, they did not create anything, referring to creative crises and other problems.
