I wonder if, at some point, the accumulated residue of all that we have experienced just forces itself through in our writing, and no matter how much we try to think about it or control it, this ex...

I'm with Finnegan—I love to think about my own writing—but I only feel confident saying what makes work "good" in retrospect. By which point stories feel cordoned off. When a story isn't fully...

There are few hard, fast rules in literature. This one doesn't apply. Something that makes kids a joy (sometimes a fright) to watch is their spontaneity and fearlessness. They aren't aware of ru...

i like to think of my own writing. i like to think of my own writing. i really do. i like to think of my own writing as a game between my unconscious (using the concept ‘my unconscious losel...

Literature requires a recognition of tradition (without going back to Eliot, I know it's in there, "Tradition and the Individual Talent"). And so much of talent comes from technique and a critical...

Everyone here is bringing up such good points. Different points. Or the same points expressed differently. This thread, I think, is good an example of how varied talent is, how individual. Steph...

I agree with those that say the statement is true for some, false for others. A writer depends on skill and talent, some must be learned, some comes natural. When it comes time for the experience t...

Hard not to read Hemingway on Fitzgerald and think he was a) imitating Fitzgerald, and b) as much writing about himself as anyone. Not long ago I watched Rufus Wainwright talking to Elvis Costel...

Texta: from "Do It Yourself," a weblog entry by Christa Forster: "I explained how I choose a genre in which to write: blog entries are about turning the daily into the daily bread. Fiction is ab...

It depends to a great deal on a person’s relationship to themselves, and to their ego that presumes possession of a designated talent. In most cases, and I cannot right this minute think of any whe...