I know someone who's a really good writer. What does that say about that person?

Question

What are typical stereotypes of people who are good writers. I hear that they are very introverted and not very well spoken. But if you're a good writer, doesn't that mean you're very articulate?

Answer 1

Some are, some aren't. Winston Churchill rallied an entire nation by voice and pen. There have been writers with such atrocious stammers that they couldn't speak in public. J. D. Salinger is a recluse.

When you write, you have time to go back and revise. When you speak, you don't.

Most good writers have a larger working vocabulary than bad writers or non-writers.

I'm a decent writer. I'm a so-so converstionalist. If I have to give a speech, I write it out first, word for word. Really eloquent people just make a couple of notes on 3x5 cards. If I do that, I ramble off track so fast I lose my audience.

Answer 2

Some writers are very quiet and shy people, though not all of them. I think the stereotype of writers being anti social and all came from the whole fact that a lot of writers will spend hours alone whilst writing. I do this a lot, where I will sit down and write for three or four hours, and all locked up in my room, which makes some people think that I'm very introverted, whereas I'm actually quite outgoing if you can tear me away from my pen. I know some writers who are very introverted, and I know some who are very extroverted. It all depends on the person. Don't listen to stereotypes. More often than not, they're wrong.

Answer 3

Well, first of all, there are people who write, and then there are writers. There are those in which writing is their life, and those that writing is a hobby. And its OK for it to just be a hobby. But I think that will tell you a lot more about someone than stereotypes. What they base their lives on means a lot more.
I think the only thing you can count on is that people who write, especially fiction, will always be multidimensional. They have to be. They have to look at everyone's perspectives. But you should not judge people or base them off of what I say, or even what you think. The best thing you can do for anyone, especially a writer, is to listen to what they have to say for themselves.
I also know people who write very well about how things work, and they are very different from the people I know who write about how people feel. There are writers I know who write brilliantly, but can't seem to think of the right thing to say, because there are too many options. So...the best stereotype, by far, is that there are no stereotypes that fit all writers.

Answer 4

There are no stereotypes. The demand of writing requires much time alone. I think you need depth and a philosophical perspective. Some people have the ability and others don't.

Contrary to what some people think, poetry and writing aren't about pure emotion but emotional depth is needed. I am more interested in prose, song lyrics and journalism these days. Maybe one day I will write a novel but am not convinced that anyone under forty should write a novel unless they are as gifted as Arundhati Roy, Evelyn Lau, Constance Leonard or Margeret Atwood.

Being well-spoken can apply to writers but if you are a nervous person, that is unlikely. That comes from social skills and experience.

In Canada, we look down on well-spoken people who don't 'fit into the mode', a mentality that encourages ignorance. The whole enigma attached to intelligence in America is more of a compliment. Americans like well-spoken, hard-working, successful, talented people. We don't. We seem to be intimidated by them. Of course, I am a Westerner so we tend to spit on that garbage. We are very straightforward, realistic people without any elitism or nonsense.

Answer 5

I have a much easier time writing than speaking. I stumble over my own tongue while my pen or fingers on the keyboard seem to move quite smoothly at times. I would much rather write my ideas out than speak them out. These two are very different forms of communication in my opinion.
A stereotype I have also heard about good writers is that they have had bad relationships with their mothers, for what it's worth.

Answer 6

Honestly, I don't think there are any stereotypes!

There are so many authors today, and so many types of authors, that they lead millions of different kinds of lives.

People don't have to be stuck in just one "profession"--at least not anymore--so, really, anyone from any walk of life can write. And they can write well, or they can write badly.

Answer 7

They are often very reflective and philosophical.

They are stereotyped as being anti-social, but I have found that to be extremely untrue.