Writers discussion question: Do you think writing is a self-taught experience or can it/should it be taught?

No one can teach you creativity. You have to discover it yourself.

:)

Like any other skill, writing is 10% talent and 90% hard work. You can't really "learn" how to write. At least I don't believe you can. I think that it's pointless to teach something called "creative writing" and by that I mean - the moment someone throws a bunch of rules in front of you, it's no longer creative. Some _guidelines_ are preferable, though. I don't think it should be taught for the simple reason that it can't be taught. It's not like learning to play an instrument (except when it comes to practicing). When you learn to play a piano you have a certain amount of keys and certain limitations and you have to pay attention to what an instrument can or cannot do. When it comes to writing, you work with the language and your imagination. Language has some boundaries, true, but there have been, there are and there will be people who will try to overcome them. And imagination... Nobody can teach you how to use it, they can possibly point you into one or another direction (and right and wrong are relative terms here). Anyway, language is constantly changing and nobody can put any boundaries to my or anyone's imagination.

Conclusion: I don't think anyone else can teach you how to write. "Writing should be taught" is a contradiction in itself. The teacher will try to impose what he _thinks_ is good writing on the student.

Well, it depends on a few things.

1. Your personal interest in the thing being taught. Without that, you won't have the motive to excel.

2. Your creativity level. Let's just face the facts: some people are more creative than others and creativity is something that can't be taught because it doesn't really exist in a solid form outside of the mind. It isn't something one can just study and know, it has to have existed previously in the mind of the creator. More or less, I'm trying to say creativity is something a person is born with.

I believe that literal writing is something that needs to be taught. Proper word usage, grammar, punctuation, capitalizatoin and spelling should be drilled into the minds of those capable, in my opinion. Frequent mistakes in high school and beyond shouldn't be tolerated in my opinion, because it is something that _can) be studied, and it is something solid that exists outside of the mind.

However, like I said, creativity isn't something that can be studied. So creating characters, plots, settings, and other abstract ideas are ones that can't be accounted for in every person. Even if a person is a good physical writer (spelling, captialization, etc.), they might not be a good writer because they aren't a good abstract writer (plots, characters, etc.). And vice-versa.

In some aspects, writing can be taught and it can't. Writers have to have a combination of given skills and acquired skills. That is why I think writing is so difficult for some people. Many of them only have one skill or the other, as well as the interest. Not many have all of them.

What an awesome question :)

I don't think Grammar, Spelling and Vocabulary count as skills for 'Writing' as I see it. These three are skills for knowing your language. If you don't have them, your writing isn't writing, its unintelligible mush, and you are not a writer; you might as well be a foreigner to your own language.

So what is taught in all classes?

Rules, formats and structures...things like that. In science-based classes, these things are fact, and can be taught. In writing and other creative things, these things are theory. Why are they theory?

Because writing has no set of rules, no 'correct' format and no 'correct structure'. There is only 'some people may be biased against <this format/this structure/this type of plot or character>'. But truth is, there is an audience for everything - no matter how small it is.This is why writing can't be taught in class. And classes are even more irrelevant to people who write for themselves.

Writing comes from the inside. You can't teach someone how to dream in their sleep. The same creativity that creates your dreams shapes your writing. This creativity can't be taught. Imagination can only mature and possibly even improve through personal experience and self-imposed practice - and nothing but that.

If writing was to be taught in classes, there would be no more freedom.

Writing is freedom.

xxChae

Afterword: The writing taught in English classes, or creative writing classes and things like that is for learning the language and is aimed at people who lack the basic skills. People who have had classes like this would know that the writing is restrictive and strictly formatted. Even creativity is given a limit. The only limit on creativity should be self-imposed by your heart.

Well, what you're essentially asking is pretty much the same as 'Are writers born with a talent or can anyone be a good writer if they're taught?'

The answer is that yes, good writers have a degree of natural talent, but they won't ever grow and improve that talent without a lot of hard work and a considerable degree of learning. The most talented writer in the world still won't get far if they don't learn, practise and develop that natural ability.

Similarly, a bad writer can improve with tuition, but they won't ever get to the same level as someone with an innate talent for language who has had the same level of tuition. They just *don't*.

The things that writers have to discover on their own are not so much techniques and skills but things like what genre suits them, what kinds of characters they enjoy, that kind of thing. A writer finds his/her own 'voice' by themselves, I think. But that doesn't mean they'll be a good writer; nobody is just a brilliant writer with zero effort to improve, even ones with a natural talent.

I've taught creative writing to kids and also coached several adults, and trust me, you can really spot the ones who have a natural talent that needs work for them to become brilliant, and the ones with no natural talent who could put in 20 times as much work but would still never be anything more than mediocre.

I think some things can be taught. Things like grammar and sentence structure. More like what I would consider the 'rules of writing.'

But creativity, drive/determination/motivation, and the love for writing is something that writers have to discover for themselves. It just simply cannot be taught. Also, voice and writing style is also something that must be discovered. Since each is individual I imagine this would also be impossible to teach.

Some parts of it are taught by teachers and parents such as how to spell, grammar and just how to write in general, but I think once you get past the basics you have to teach yourself. You can't really teach creativity, you can't test someone on how to develop a non-mary-sue character. You teach yourself slowly by reading and writing all the time. I don't think it's something that should or could be taught to everyone. I think that's the joy of writing- you develop your skills without much help. My parents hate to write and read- I have to revise my mom's emails to make them readable. I didn't learn much from them as far as literature goes, and my teachers aren't meant to teach story type writing. My friend and I just kind of jumped in and winged it 7 years ago, and since then we've taught ourselves a lot. You can't be taught how to make a plot outside the guidelines of setting, rising action, climax ect... You create your own writing style and if everyone was taught how to write the same way reading wouldn't be fun. Writing is art- you can teach the basics and the techniques but after that it's all up to the artists/writer's creativity and determination.

Well, it is kind of a mixture of both. Writing involves a whole lot of patience and natural talent, which has to come from you.

The grammar skills, words you use, sentence structure, style... You are taught how to write those kind of things, and through that, you discover your own style.

You read, and you discover how to write.

You write and you discover how to write properly.

You get critiqued and you discover how to write properly.

You don't really teach yourself... You kind of just discover, and practice, and work on it. People can tell you what you are doing wrong, but there is no way to TEACH how to write. I have tried it before, but it just doesn't work (though maybe that's because I can't teach). You kind of have to take what other people say in, understand it, and try to figure out your own way to fix things.

One thing you have to discover on your own: You suck when you start out. There are things on my computer, old stories that I cannot read without cringing.

You also need to learn patience, outlining, rewriting, character development. People can teach you techniques, but they can't teach you how to write.

Writing to me isn't taught. It's something you figure out, and if you have enough patience and love for it, you eventually get pretty good.

You are taught technique, and you are given foundation, but the actual process of writing can't be taught.

I know this because people stare at me and say, "how do you come up with this stuff?" Certain things just come to me, and whenever I hear something interesting, wheels start turning in my head. Sometimes they stop, but sometimes, they keep going. One of the most important things in writing is getting ideas. And you can't teach that. It either comes to you or it doesn't.

Of course, I've never taken any type of writing class, so I can't be sure what type of brilliance you can gain from one. :)

I think taking a creative writing type class wouldn't hurt a writer-they can learn more about different writing terms that perhaps they didn't know even existed. I think writing is mostly a self-taught experience though.

A little bit of both. Natural talent comes from the writer, and the first bits of writing usually start in early childhood before said child is really "coached" on writing. However, a lot of it is also taught.

It's a bit of both. You'll need imagination and creativity to help you get started. But that can only carry you so far. Even the best imagination can't help you grammatically. You need to learn things about writing itself. Grammar, cliches, spelling, etc. Those things have to be taught. Otherwise, you'll end up creating a Mary Sue cliched story with bad grammar.