(no 30 day excerpt today!)

So… curious.

Are writers born or made?  Why I do ask… well, I was reading this post @ galleycat…this line here:

He talked about how we overvalue talent in our culture, arguing that writers are shaped by teachers and practice–not innate talent.

So I got to thinking.  I never had anybody ‘teaching’ me to write.  My dad used to write poetry when he was younger, before I was born.  My grandmother wrote before I was born.  Other than that?  Nope.

I was a reader.  I can vaguely remember my dad reading some.  Mostly, I just remember reading.  Then I remember writing.  I don’t remember WHEN I started…and nobody really pushed me to do it.  It was just sort… natural.  Like that was what I was supposed to do and one day, I just started doing it.

So I don’t really think I was ‘made’ a writer.  I think I just always had stories in my head.

My oldest?  She’s decided to start writing.  She’s got the first few chapters of a book tucked away on her PC and I’m here to help her if she gets stuck.

Did I ever ‘train’ her to write?  No.  She’s always loved books.  Loves movies.  Loves anything that engages her imagination.  But have I pushed her to try?  I don’t think so, so I haven’t really taught her.  Up until recently, I never even encouraged her to try. Although I knew she had the talent.

When she was about six, she brought me this little ‘story’ she wrote.  Actually, it was an opening to story.  But a very good one. It read:

Once upon a time, there was a little town called Sleepy Hollow.  It was a very peaceful town… or WAS it?

Right there… I mean… wow.  She’d already figured out the idea of how to catch a person’s interest.  So I knew the talent was there.  But I didn’t want to push her into it.  Then a few weeks ago, she made the most amazing card for a friend’s birthday.  The girl’s mom thought maybe I’d helped her.  I didn’t.

The girl has a way with words.  She does read and I encourage that, but I didn’t ‘teach’ her to write.  She decided she was going to do it.  Whether she sticks with it or not, we’ll have to wait and see.

So I guess I think writers are born…and sometimes training might come into play.