B&A: Is it possible to lose your talent in writing?

No, I don't think it's possible to lose your talent.

I'm going to be honest sweetsabrie. When you were writing short stories as a little girl, those stories most likely sucked. As someone who's older and who's writing skill has developed, you're beginning to see how much practice you still need to become a good writer. Do not judge how "good" you supposedly were way back when. Most likely you weren't good at all. Let's face, unless you're a child genius, you weren't writing great things at a young age. Go back and read some of your writing when you were younger and you'll see how much it sucked.

The good thing, though, is that you're able to recognize that your writing needs improvement. This means you can improve. People who can't recognize bad writing from good are the ones who are going to stay in the habit of obliviously writing crap. So, practice. The more you practice and research basic creative writing the better you'll get. You need time, patience, and practice. Forget how great your friends and parents and siblings told you your writing was when you were a wee child. It wasn't great and you'll do much better now, as an older teen, than you ever could as a child. Just get back into the habit, read as much as you can, write as much as you can and you'll begin improving.

Lastly, just like you can't become some great painter or guitar player overnight, you can't become a great writer overnight. It takes time, and for most people, it takes years. You're only demoralizing yourself if you think you're going to start writing something great right now. You're not. It'll take years of practice and studying. Most of your favorite authors were writing crap, but they kept writing and honing their skill and that's how they became better. GL.

It could just be a phase you are going through. Now and then I think that my writing is crap, and I think many others do too. The trick is not to let it get to you and stop comparing your work with others. I don't think anyone loses the talent in writing, but they definitely can lose the passion. On my best days when I give it all in my writing, it comes out really good. But when I am all moody and can't be bothered to put much effort into it, my writing lacks that certain something.

Taking a break to fool around with "friends" wasn't as big of a waste of time as you might think. It all adds to the experience in which you might need to add for a book. I'm guessing they weren't really friends with the quotation around the word, so this could serve a really good purpose in your book because you know what it's like to hang around people who use you or whatever your "friends" have done or didn't do. So just look at it as a lesson, something that will no doubt contribute to your story some day.

The best way to get back into writing is to have a look at your old work, reread it and see if it sparks you to carry it on or if it gives you any inspiration for another idea. If you do start again, don't worry that the first draft isn't good, because it's not meant to be. You could either do chapter by chapter where you strive for quality or you could just get the thing done to the end and then go through and correct mistakes. At least then you'll have the satisfaction of having finished something.

Remember that you are your own worst critique, and never be put off by others not liking it. Not everyone can like everything. Make sure when you get people to read - whether on here or in real life - that they don't just say it's brilliant to make you feel better. You will need constructive critique so that you know where you have gone wrong and also what you are doing right. Nevertheless, you should feel much better looking back at your old stories and seeing how much you have improved. Don't sweat it and carry on writing, sometimes it's just best to free write and see if you can go with the flow and get back into writing. Perhaps don't think about it , just get straight on in there. Or you could plan it out , chapter by chapter, character development and all that. It depends on how you roll...or rolled. Good luck.

Oh my god!!! The same exxxact thing happened to me minus fooling around with friends. I used to be an excellent writers, I got A's on every piece, teachers would use my writing as examples, and now I plain suck, because I, too, lost my confidence. I think part of it is that I and maybe you, think about my writing too much, and whether each sentence is good or not. The thing about writing is that you can do anything, there's no bad or good writing, so you can write any way. Just think about that and maybe you'll get it back. Also, you may be like me and describing emotions instead of using metaphors, and using bad verb choice. Those two things make crappy writing.

Honestly it just sounds like writers block. U shouldn't blame it on ur break with friends. Because in usual cases, what people need to do to refresh their mind for more ideas is take a break away from writing. Just try to enjoy writing again like u used to before u became self conscious. If u like what your doing, chances are others will too. Don't let

Something u love become a chore because your not in the writing state of mind. Take another break to dream up some ideas. :)

Talent isn't something that comes and goes - it's like having brown hair or being an extrovert... it's something that's part of your genetics and personality.

Having talent in something like writing means that you're quick to absorb new skills, and it comes relatively easily to you compared to others who attempt writing. If you are a talented writer, you will always be a talented writer.

But just because you're talented, doesn't mean you're good. A person who is talented at piano will never be a performer if she never sits down in front of a piano. Even if she is incredibly talented, she has to practice her piano skills. It's the same with writing. You could be an incredibly talented writer, able to pick up new things and tell a story very well... but if you never sit down and write, it will mean nothing.

Your skills can get worse, if you don't practice, but they aren't gone forever. Stretch your mental muscles, sit down and write for fun, do some writing exercises and keep at it.

Keep writing. Start jotting down stuff, even random weird things. If you do it frequently enough you might get the hang of it again. Never feel self-conscious about your writing. You just took a break that got you a little rusty. Keep doing what you love.

No. It is, however, possible to get out of practice.

It's also possible to get a little older and wiser and realise that you weren't as great a writer as you thought you were when you were a teenager.

To be honest, anyone who looks at their own writing and immediately thinks it's great and doesn't need improving is probably a rotten writer. If you can see that there are flaws in your work, that's a good sign. It means that you have the ability to improve and hone your skills.

You haven't lost your talent, you're just out of practice. So don't worry if you think your writing sucks. Just keep at it. A good writer is one that writes a lot.

When you don't write for a while, it doesn't feel natural. And naturally, you think it's bad. Just keep practicing until you feel confident enough to start sharing your stories again.

I would say that your skills might not be as sharp for various reasons, you just need more practice. A natural talent does not just go away.