(Creative) Writing – Talent or Craft?

(or can writing be taught)

Believe it or not, cursive letters are not being tought in schools in USA for years now. Showing that not only Americans are crazy, in Finland parents choose if they would like their children to learn how to write or not. Yes, would they take the pencil and learn how to write. And before you wonder how the heck is this possible, ask yourself when was the last time you wrote something with your hand (and no, your signature does not count).

If you are upset about children not being able to create their own handwriting, this is the part where we can wonder more about writing. In the Serbian version of this text, I’m dealing with Serbian educational system that doesn’t really teach creative writing in classes and can only be learned at one faculty. Given the fact that we are using creative writing in our everyday life, I wonder how it is possible that our system doesn’t recognize the need for teaching students creativity in writing. As you are reading this post in English and Serbian educational system is not your main interest, here I would like to ask how is it exactly that writing can be taught?

First of all, writing is not systematic knowledge that can be passed (like art) nor is it empiric science (like medicine). Yes, by learning our native language we learn a set of grammatical and orthographic rules, but one cannot learn creativity. Nobody can really teach us how to write like Shakespeare or Balzac. But if nobody can teach us how to write creatively, how does one become a (great) writer?!

Surely at some moment in your life you need creative writing to express yourself. Mail. Greeting card. Motivational letter. Speach. Writing is a form of expressing yourself that you do use in your everyday life. And not just that. Creative writing is a skill that is used in many professions. Movie scripts. Comercials. Music videos. Websites. Radio shows. It seems like almost every aspect of media presentation needs creative writing.

And when it comes to writing, two main things that are being mentioned are talent and inspiration. Talent (that we can define as a tendency and natural capability to do something) usually shows up like the only requirement for good writing. Besides talent, the second thing that we need is inspiration. Suddenly you are strike by your muse (or intoxicated enough) and you are able to create phenomenal text and just write and write…  Although, if we would really wait for the inspiration to come, it could easily happen that we wait for Godot too. So in writing (same as in any form of art) there is a constant need for mystification of the whole creating process. Along with considering writing as the privilege that is only given to the chosen ones.

However, as writing is the individual process that requires only one skill (that’s right, writing) how can you learn anything?! Similar question is being asked in Fromm’s book The Art Of Loving; love is the matter that is understood on its own and there is nothing you can learn about it. I partially agree: we can (relatively) easy learn the technique but it’s up to an individual if he’s going to be good or not. And yes, talent is the set of features that cannot be learned. Because you cannot learn how to write like Shakespeare. But – this is only because you are not Shakespeare. And you can only write like – yourself! And are you better or worse than Shakespeare, nobody can judge. It’s all matter of personal esthetics; somebody likes Balzac and somebody likes Flaubert. And style that is so often mention in writing (as a way that we do certain things), is really an individual characteristic.

So, can creative writing be taught? Yes it can. And not only that. Writing should be improved all the time. Because the more experience you have, the easier you write. If you would just write on the same topic 7 days in a row, you would be surprised how different your first and your last text would be. And however artists hate to admit it, writing is a craft. And craft is something that you can learn.

As with any other subject, you need to be interested in writing. In language. In expressing your toughts in a certain (careful) way. And although many would state that you need 50% talent and 50% craft to be genious, it seems to me that all you need is 100% desire. Because if you have desire to do something, talent and craft are secondary – you will find a way. And in the very essence, learining how to write creatively is very simple. All you need to do is sit down and – write. Let me rephrase (the one and only) Stephen King when he talks about art of writing – above all in writing craft, we need to read a lot and write a lot.

Besides working in a group (as in creative writing class), writing can be learned (as anything in life) individualy. By reading, listening, watching, serching and again, writing on regular basis. This practice will open you to new ideas, expand your vocabulary, awake your imagination, bring conscience to your writing (so you can recognize repetition), where you will clearly see your flaws and learn how to awake your inspiration. With each text you will simply be better and better. And the good news is that even though you cannot become a great tennis player once you are 50, you can easily become the best writer at any age. Dostoyevski himself wrote The Brothers Karamazov before he died – at 58! And the legend says he wrote it so late, because he didn’t have the internet where he could learn how to practice creative writing…