Monday, November 22, 2010

Lots of things a good writer needs

Picking up from my last post, I asked my writing group to come up with the things a good writer needs. Thanks to Jackie, Malcolm, Warren, Steven, Jade, Steve, Ben, and Matt for the suggestions below (hope I haven't forgotten anyone!)

In no particular order, a good writer needs:

Mentor(s)
Objectivity
A desire for continuous improvement
An audience
Rewards
Something to write on
Judgement
Professionalism
Resilience
The ability to adapt
Luck
Joy in Writing
Basic composition skills
Talent
Craftsmanship
Practice
Passion
Drive
Obsession/Inner necessity
Self-belief
Chutzpah
Honest and reliable feedback
An ability to listen to feedback
A comfortable emotional state for their writing
Lots of ideas
Open-mindedness
Access to the industry
Social skills
Routine/discipline
The ability to know when to quit.

Anything we missed out?

3 comments:

Sean_Molloy said...

Jade has emailed me to add:

A kind of reckless abandon (to the process).
A good sense of humour
Chutzpah

Lyse Beck said...

Hi Sean. When I asked my husband what he thought a writer needed he said... a job. haha!!

d f mamea said...

a gud spelr