Do you agree that an EXCELLENT WRITER should have?

Question

first and foremost

TALENT

Than the THREE "E's"

Education
Emotion
and
Experience

or else it will be nearly impossible for one to succeed?

Answer 1

With enough effort, anyone can learn to write and communicate effectively. What most people consider to be "talent" is the creativeness and deftness with which a writer assembles words. But, without wisdom to back the glossy arrangement of words, it's just copy. An excellent writer conveys insight and meaning by having the wisdom to know which moments to capture and arrange for the reader, the haiku or crucial essence of life's events, so to say. Though, an accumulation of life experiences certainly builds a lush bank of events from which to pull from and enhances a writer's ability to arrange critical and pivotal moments in a meaningful way, it's more about our powers of observation, about what we are sensitive enough to notice in the world around us, how everything everywhere is connected and responds. Even a young child can be an excellent writer in that regard.

Answer 2

No.

Don't let the maverick success story fool you. The large majority of writers learned their craft through school, internships, or through mentors (education), and honed it with more rejection notices and other professional challenges than you can imagine (aka experience). Obviously emotion is required to carry them through the slow and doubtful times.

But to use a more obvious example, look at football players. How many walk-on football players make the NFL. If there's more than a handful in the last decade, I'd be surprised. If talent was all that's required, you'd see far more players skipping college and showing up at the local stadium for try-outs. But instead you see even the most talented players going to college to learn how to play football (not refering to the classes, I'm referring to football education), to gain experience, and to get their heart into the game. It's the same with every competitive vocation, including writing.

Not saying it's impossible to succeed as a writer with only talent, but then, it's not impossible to hit the $50 million dollar lottery either. But it's not likely.

Answer 3

Certainly, all those things would be an advantage to a writer...or any other profession for that matter.

But first and foremost would be a good command of the language; knowledge and skill in mechanics, paragraph structure, and a good vocabulary.

I agree that there are some "successful" first time writers, but the best writers have more life experience; their lives are richer and broader.

Answer 4

The qualities you mentioned, educaion, emotion and experience are certainly desireable traits in any vocation.

However, excellent writers require special qualities, the first being discipline.
Dan Brown who has earned $250 million from The Da Vinci Code alone says " I feel I am remiss in my duty if I don't begin writing at 4.30 AM ".

The sheer effort of sitting at the word processor for four hours at a time requires tremendous discipline.

Knowledge of syntax, sentence structure and a broad vocabulary are of course a must for a writer. In addition he/she must have the skill of organizing what may be myriads of research material, a thankless but necessary part of producing an acceptable piece of material.

Imagination must surely be a necessary pre-requisite if the writer wishes to excite his reader and maintain interest in what he has written.

But the most important quality a writer MUST possess is PASSION.
He must have hightened desire, an accelerated inward demand to
write.

Writing is tiresome, lonely, taxing and frustrating but an excellent writer ignores all of these intrusions. He/she writes because she/he MUST write.

All great writers have said these things. I am only reporting what I have been told they say and feel.

The fact that so many "wannabee" writers fail is because they do not possess those demanding qualities we have mentioned.

Sorry to say, I am ONE OF THEM.

Answer 5

One doesn't need a college education to write beautiful poems. Also I disagree with experience. A lot of very well written books are the first one the author writes. I do, however, agree that emotion is the most important factor to a great writer.

Answer 6

Gift of Expression
Grace of Patience
&
Gratitude for above two.