Why do people think they can write?

Madou

So reading down through this message board got me thinking about a piece I read by W.H. Auden a few months ago that posed the question, "why do people think they can write?" Most show no real talent while a vast majority struggle to grasp with the very basics of grammar (this in no way refers to those posting on this board, but is merely paraphrasing Auden. There's some pretty nice stuff up here). Just because we can pick up a pen or tap a keyboard doesn't mean we can write a poem, a novel, or anything that contributes to the greater discourse. Just as being able to drive a car down the street does not mean you're going to be the next Michael Schumacher.

Auden's explanation, I believe, hinted at a general lathargy in the individual and after exhausting other avenues, writing seems fairly attractive as picking up a HB pencil can be done with minimal amounts of effort.

Whatever the reason, we all find our own lives, at times, interesting and unique (if we didn't life would not be possible to live), and therefore believe we can produce some sort of narrative that will capture the attention of others. Of course, the reality is, our own lives are never as unique as we perceive and in trying to narrate our respective lives, we risk producing material that is dull, boring and bog-standard at best.

It's about finding the beauty in the mundane and being able to write an thirty page essay about a pen lying on the floor. Fitzgerald, Salinger, Bukowski - they all knew this and I think the rest of us are just normal bystanders who mostly don't have a clue. We're all just like finger-painters standing next to Picasso.

But yet people think they can write.

Comments, suggestions, additons...........

smcgiff

People write because they enjoy it. No other reason required.

'being able to write an thirty page essay about a pen lying on the floor.'

Think I'll give this one a miss

rockbeer

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I suppose it's like anything else - without the Sunday morning water-colourists you wouldn't have the Picassos. Everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone has the desire - and the right - to express themselves creatively however they can. The fact that some aren't very good at it is irrelevant...

Even Auden's early efforts might have lacked some quality.

imho, a better pair of questions would be: why do people write? And why do they not exercise more and better self-criticism before posting their efforts on public fora?

buck65

Madou, just wondering if you write or have written?

Madou

Yes I have written and am writing for various newspapers and random publications. I've made a few attempts at fiction but trying to get anything decent together is far too time consuming.

claire h

rockbeer wrote: »

imho, a better pair of questions would be: why do people write? And why do they not exercise more and better self-criticism before posting their efforts on public fora?

Yes, indeed. It's one thing to write because you enjoy it, but another to write for an audience. Writing for an audience means that you do need to edit, to be critical, to redraft, to make sure that you're telling the best story you can or making the best point you can, because when it's for an audience the 'I just wrote this for myself/to work through some issues/because I was inspired' justification doesn't work.

I'm not sure it's entirely to do with people finding their own lives totally fascinating, though many people who do try to write about their lives (rather than using their own life experience to shape a story) do end up with fairly dull stuff that doesn't work as narrative fiction. I also don't think it's about a lack of effort involved, in that there's an awful lot of people who don't write but always 'are going to write a book someday', but there is definitely a sense among many beginners that it should be all creativity and inspiration and flashes of genius, which is all very well and good to get you started, but then there is that tedious business of having to stick with something and polish it and edit it and all the rest.

McGinty

Hi Op

I think it is a good and valid question that you/Auden put to those who wish to write. I have often asked the question of myself, why the hell do I want to write? In essence I don't know, I have done nearly every type of job under the sun but I keep coming back to writing, I remain unpublished at the moment and I have not written about my life, the book I have written is a cross between sci-fi and magic realism, did I try to fit into those two genres, no fricking way, it just developed that way. I have tried not to write, ignore it, tell myself I have no right, that I am crap, but this other part has pushed me and drawn me back to writing, so I don't know why? I believe it is a compulsion. I know when I write creatively or even an essay and I get in the zone it is one of the best feelings in the world but it is also terrifying putting your ideas out there for a public to read and take apart. I don't know if I think 'I can write' I only hope that if/when my stories are published that they will move the reader, that is my wish. When I read a book and I am moved, I feel a deep gratitude to the author, also when I use the term move, I also mean that the book gave me an opportunity to reflect on its implict and explicit message.

hypercrawl

Madou wrote: »

So reading down through this message board got me thinking about a piece I read by W.H. Auden a few months ago that posed the question, "why do people think they can write?" Most show no real talent while a vast majority struggle to grasp with the very basics of grammar (this in no way refers to those posting on this board, but is merely paraphrasing Auden. There's some pretty nice stuff up here). Just because we can pick up a pen or tap a keyboard doesn't mean we can write a poem, a novel, or anything that contributes to the greater discourse. Just as being able to drive a car down the street does not mean you're going to be the next Michael Schumacher.

Auden's explanation, I believe, hinted at a general lathargy in the individual and after exhausting other avenues, writing seems fairly attractive as picking up a HB pencil can be done with minimal amounts of effort.

Whatever the reason, we all find our own lives, at times, interesting and unique (if we didn't life would not be possible to live), and therefore believe we can produce some sort of narrative that will capture the attention of others. Of course, the reality is, our own lives are never as unique as we perceive and in trying to narrate our respective lives, we risk producing material that is dull, boring and bog-standard at best.

It's about finding the beauty in the mundane and being able to write an thirty page essay about a pen lying on the floor. Fitzgerald, Salinger, Bukowski - they all knew this and I think the rest of us are just normal bystanders who mostly don't have a clue. We're all just like finger-painters standing next to Picasso.

But yet people think they can write.

Comments, suggestions, additons...........

Very well put. Well written, well crafted. And that makes all the difference; writing isn't something you pick up, it's not 'about' anything; it is a skill to be learned - it is the skill of being able to express a thing through the use of language.

The only advice worth giving to anyone who wants to be a writer is to read everything, write it all down, edit and repeat.