What IS "writing"?

What is this thing we call "writing"? Is it an art? There are certainly aspects of writing that require imagination and creativity, but all the creative talent in the world will fail if it lacks expression. Imagine, for a moment, that a person with immense musical potential was never handed a violin. Will music result?

Maybe "writing' is a technical skill, one that any desiring person can acquire. I've know many English teachers who could correct punctuation but could not "write" an inspiring Get Well card if their lives depended on it. Certainly, the mechanics of this art form are necessary, but they alone do not produce "writing".

What about work ethic? Is a "writer" simply a person with guts; some recluse who struggles with pen in hand until, eventually, some day, maybe, it happens -- a decent manuscript crawls out from the leaning stacks of rejected attempts. No, somehow guts alone won't result in a finished story, or, at least, one that people want.

Actually, I have come to believe that "writing" . . . that is, with the intention of producing an end product worthy of public consumption . . . this noble endeavor is the bastard child of inbreeding all three components; story-weaving imagination, story-crafting writing skills and story-completing work ethic. Any missing component spells doom for the most noble of intentions.

So, if you want to be a "writer", take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. If you have a good imagination, but lack technical skills, then fix what's broken. If you have a good work ethic, but little imagination, then write non-fiction. Simply address these three areas and you can become a good writer.

Imagination, technical skill and work ethic . . . the keys to successful writing.

Great article, Dean.