Born to Write?
Were you ‘born to write’ or did you make a conscious decision to become a writer?
A few years ago I read P.D. James’ top tips for writers.
She died in 2014 aged 94 and is probably most famous for writing the Adam
Dalgliesh mystery series.
Her first point was: You
must be born to write.
She said: You can't teach someone to know how to use words effectively and beautifully. You can help people who can write to write more effectively and you can probably teach people a lot of little tips for writing a novel, but I don't think somebody who cannot write and does not care for words can ever be made into a writer. It just is not possible.
Nobody could make me into a musician. Somebody might be able to teach me how to play the piano reasonably well after a lot of effort, but they can't make a musician out of me and you cannot make a writer, I do feel that very profoundly.
This really intrigued me. Was I born to write? All I know is
that I’ve written stories ever since I was about 8 or 9. Throughout my teens, I
wrote cheesy romance stories one after the other. I also kept long diaries – I
remember one (when I was 16 or 17) which ended up as a folder about 3 inches
thick by the end of the year (oh, how I wish I had kept that diary!). I wrote
lengthy letters to penfriends and, later, when I moved away from home, to
several friends back home.
In that sense, I have always been a writer. I’ve always had
a feel for words and phrasing, and the flow of sentences. It really is
something I ‘feel’, rather than something I know.
That doesn’t mean my writing is as good as P.D. James’
writing, although during the past few years, I think I have learnt to write
more effectively. Not necessarily following all the ‘rules’, but certainly
making my writing ‘sharper’, using simple techniques like getting rid of speech
tags and overused words, etc
One thing in P.D.James’ words struck a chord with me.
Unintentional pun there, but as child I learnt to play the piano. I wasn’t
good, I knew I wasn’t good, but I persevered and by my late teens I played
adequately enough to accompany the hymn singing at my local church. However, I
wasn’t a musician. I played from technique, and not the ‘feel’ of it. There is
a world of difference between technique and that ‘feeling’.
I’ve read blogs and articles where some people have said
they ‘decided’ to become a writer. That’s something I’ve never understood. Can
you ‘decide’ to become an artist or a musician – or a writer? In my case, there
was never a conscious decision. Writing is as integral a part of me as
breathing!
What do you think? Can you ‘make a decision’ to become a
writer, or are you born with something within you to create stories and write
them?
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