Answers About Writing
DEANNA MASCLE has been teaching and writing professionally for more than 20 years.
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DEANNA MASCLE
Writing: Is it a Skill, Craft, or Gift
Whenever you gather writers together they talk about writing.
There are many different types of writers. Those who prefer to
compose in long-hand or can only write on an old-fashioned
manual typewriter. Those who write to music, demand complete
silence, or create best surrounded by noise. You have the writers
who must plan and outline before they can begin and those who
find even talking about a project before it is drafted can stifle
their creativity. But one of the most controversial divisions
among writers is about whether writing is a skill, craft, or gift.
I admit that I like to stir the fire a bit because I can argue all
three points and depending on how my own writing is going
at the moment I may find that one viewpoint carries more
weight for me personally.
I know as a teacher of writing that writing is a skill. I have
taken people, young and old, who loathed writing and believed
they would never be able to write -- and provided them with
basic tips and tools to become good basic writers. I have taken
good basic writers and given them the support and direction
they've needed to become skilled writers. I've watched skilled
writers with practice and determination become proficient
writers. I have seen this in the classroom, at writing conferences,
and in newsrooms. I have witnessed this transformation enough
to know that writing is a skill that can be taught and a skill that
can be learned.
I know as a writer, editor, and reader that writing is a craft.
As the definition reads to craft is "to make or produce with
care, skill, or ingenuity". A skilled writer can capture our
interest and convey information, but a writer can also craft
a story, poem, or essay that touches our emotions as well
as our brains. For those who have gone beyond simply
skilled to be craftsmen and craftswomen they can rely on
their knowledge, experience, and instinct to create writing
that does more than simply delivers -- it also sings.
I know as a writer and reader that writing is a gift. Some
writers simply possess a special quality that allows them
to step beyond and above the huddled masses. For some
it is a special ability to shape words into images and ideas
and for some it is a unique vision of this world (or another)
that speaks to our souls in a way others cannot.
Are writers born or made? Many people argue that some
gifted writers are born, but I am not convinced. Perhaps
you could have some predisposition but I believe that
writers are made. They are made in the rocking chair
when Mother reads "Goodnight, Moon"; they are made
under the cover with a flashlight when you simply must
finish "The Hobbit" for the first time; they are made when
you proudly pocket your first library card; they are made
when you fill your first notebook; they are made when you
submit your first poem, article or story for publication; they
are made when you receive your first rejection; and they
are made when you turn the computer on every day to
write.
I believe some writers are supremely gifted but even so
does that mean it was a gift given to them whole or was
it a gift developed through years of reading, writing, talking,
and thinking about words?
So, I believe, writing is all three -- a skill, a craft, and a gift.
Some writers find their ability spans all three while others
never progress past the level of skill.
©2006 DEANNA MASCLE |
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