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/lit/ - Literature

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10125511 No.10125511 [Reply] [Original]

Is it true you have to be naturally born a good writer to have any promise? Are there any writers that are really good that were fucking awful in the beginning and just grinded until they were good? And i mean awful. Like you can't believe they were ever gonna be good.

>> No.10125519

Ask any good writer and they will tell you it's hard work. Very, VERY few natural talents exist, and even then raw talent needs to be honed and can easily be squandered.

>> No.10125523

>>10125511

Did you ever read Hemingway's early work? A good editor and some genius can compensate for some grammatical stumbling

>> No.10125591

I think that if you can write truly, avoid posturing, and ask yourself hard questions about how or why you feel certain ways about certain things, you will be OK

>> No.10126676

>>10125511
It is more important to be born with the right social connections than the right talent.

There are people who will always suck at writing because they aren't terribly good at learning period.

Most people will suck because not because they don't write enough but because they don't read enough.

>> No.10126720

>>10125519
Is that why most top tier authors had genius-level IQs? Sure, you can become an "alright" author through hard work, but the difference in skill is still analogous to a regular cubicle engineer and someone like Tesla. The authors that became successful through hard work or luck are the mediocre hacks like Hemingway, Stevenson, Tolkien, etc.

>> No.10126748

>>10125511
Are you specifically taking about prose or literary talent in general?

>> No.10126766

>>10125511
If by this you mean the universe has to preordain the luck required to be a successful author then yes. Everything is set in stone.

>> No.10126776

>Is it true you have to be naturally born a good writer to have any promise?
No, but you need a innate sense of aesthetics; as in a feel for what's good and what's bad.

>> No.10126789

>>10125511
you dont know a good writer untill hes writen something good. ergo its pointless to ask yourself that question.

>> No.10126826

>>10126720
>mediocre hacks
>names 3 brilliant and under appreciated authors
wew

>> No.10126840

>>10126826
Now go ahead and compare them to Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, or Homer

>> No.10126860

>>10126840
Homer isn't what you call good prose.

>> No.10126867

>>10126840
>If you are not Shakespeare then you automatically suck so just don't bother

>> No.10126915

>>10126867
OP asked about good authors. I would not consider anybody below the caliber of those whom I listed to be good, or worth reading.

>> No.10126930

>don't teach a kid how to write

Well there goes his 'natural' talent

>> No.10126940

>>10126930
>the child does not invent his own written language
guess he was destined to be a pleb after all
also, are you implying that adults or youths can't teach themselves to read and write?

>> No.10126952

>>10126720
>genius-level IQs
this is why you'll never be a good author

>> No.10127004

>>10126952
I have a genius-level IQ, so I'm fine.

>> No.10127018

>>10126720
>>10125511
Look up the work of Anders Ericcson. Anyone can learn to write to a competent of professional degree, but if you're aiming to be the best of the best then you need some natural talent.

>> No.10128534

http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/index.htm

>> No.10128535

>>10126720
>Stevenson
>mediocre
I will cut you, m8.