How Do You Know You Have the Talent to Write a Book?

For this week’s post, I want to provide the question that inspired it up front, because it explains my answer a little better. Thank you, Sandra, for this question: I’ve always wondered how and when writers really knew they had the talent to write a book. Was it an instant inspiration at some point in your life? Or something you always felt in your bones, so to speak? Is a talent for writing an innate gift?

I’m willing to bet money that if you asked Nora Roberts, John Grisham, Raymond Feist, Marion Zimmer Bradley--name your author—“How did YOU know you had the talent to write a book?”, they’d all answer the same way a much smaller fish like myself does here and now: “Well, I’m still waiting to figure that out.” That’s because the drive to write is what makes us write, not talent. Talent is the holy grail we’re always seeking to reach through practice, practice, and more practice, and it doesn’t ever stop. Every story, published or not, is yet another practice ground.

You do build confidence in your craft as you go along, but even when I have a reader tell me that one of my books is fabulous (thank you!), my own self-analysis is I am a “decent” or “adequate” writer. The moments when I read through a draft and think, “Wow, that’s exactly where I wanted to go with that”, I feel a gratitude to the muse for letting me tap into that rich vein of creative gold. Not: “Wow, I am so awesome for coming up with that.” Lol…

It isn’t false modesty. When I pick up a book by another author and am blown away by the story and how he/she told it, I am immediately crushed into a sense of smallness, even while I’m thrilled to have the chance to be a grateful reader. A writer worth anything never stops striving to be better, because we know we CAN be better. We need only read a brilliant author’s work to be sure of it.

Now at a certain point after you’ve practiced, practiced, practiced, you decide “Hey, I’m going to try and get published” and you start learning all you can about the publishing business. Before the popularity of self-publishing, the query/rejection process from publishing houses was a great way for an author to determine if they’d worked on their craft enough to merit having a book published, or if they were improving/moving closer to that goal. Because getting published by a reputable house with a skilled editing team was (and still is) HARD.

Yes, some of that is politics, timing, trends, and other less than fair reasons. But the important service that house often provides with their rejection slips is a heads up to the author that they may not yet be ready. The craft is weak and needs more work. Rejection is also a way to test an author’s determination and mettle. A writer who gets their first rejection notice or critical feedback and decides “well, obviously I’m not meant to be a writer”, is correct, but not for the reasons he/she may think.

Being a writer is extremely hard work emotionally (and sometimes physically, as those hours at the computer get longer and longer and the body ages, lol). It requires tremendous perseverance, and the ability to say over and over again: How can I make this story better?

That’s why I always tell aspiring writers – if you don’t have a love for writing (aka inspiration to do it) that can overcome any discouragement or rejection, the publishing business is not for you. You have to love writing MORE than being published to stick with it.

That stubbornness is likewise a training ground for the business itself. Because once you are published, things do not get much more fair or easier. Each step up the ladder is more politics, timing and trends, though the craft issue becomes less of a factor, because if you’ve made it past that threshold, you’re already an author who seeks to make every book better than the last. Until you get under so much deadline/production pressure the formula mentality kicks in and kills an awesome writer’s voice and spark. But that’s a topic for a different time, classified under "An author's greatest fear." Ack!

So I guess ultimately the question behind the question is: “What inspires a person to be a writer?” We might all identify triggers that made us start writing, but it’s very hard to explain WHY we stuck with it when so many others chose different paths. I just can’t imagine not telling the stories in my head. It’s a compulsion that can’t be denied. It may one day go away, and then I’ll turn my hand to gardening and reading all those wonderful books I don’t have time to read now. But until then, I’ll keep writing!

Reminder of the Week: Part IV, the final segment of Naughty Wishes, is out. You can read all of Geoff, Chris and Sam’s story at once now! Buy links are under the blurb here.