by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: March 24, 2009

I know that it can be a contentious issue but I tend to take the view that writers are a breed who are born to write and that writing and the ability to write successfully and well is not something which can be either taught or developed. Just like the artist who produces his designs on canvas, the writer produces their art form in the shape of words on paper, conveying to their subsequent reader their thoughts, their opinions and more than anything else, the products of their imagination.

While I do always hold the above to be true in general terms, this in no way means that I believe writers should not focus on developing their writing skills. Like any profession or craft which we practise, we should always be on the look out to improve our abilities and our levels of performance if we are to know the greatest levels of success. This means that we must never make the mistake of thinking that we have "arrived" at the destination which we set for ourselves and that we can now afford to grow complacent in terms of striving for self-improvement and development.

I would suggest in the first instance that writers can look to improve their writing skills by reading the works of others writing in the genre to which they themselves write. There are always new writers arriving on the scene, bringing fresh styles and ideas to the business. By making ourselves aware of these writers and their styles, we may see ways in which we can amend our own writing style or approach projects from a different and fresh perspective. This is an excellent way in which to prevent our writing from becoming stale or repetitive and alienating our regular and perhaps loyal readers.

We should always be willing to experiment with our writing, perhaps as a direct result of reading in the fashion described above. Whether we look to write upon new and fresh subjects or simply to tackle our subjects in a different way, the very act of doing so can be a very effective learning experience. We will not always succeed, of course, in that which we set out to achieve, but even in failure valuable lessons can be learned in writing as in any walk of life.

Criticism of our writing can come in many shapes and forms and can on occasion be extremely annoying and disheartening. We may have written a piece which we are particularly proud of, only for professional critics or standard readers to decimate it and give it a big thumbs down. Yes, we will be upset at such times, but we must always ask ourselves why our work was received in such a negative fashion. We must put ourselves in the position of the critic or reader and analyse the piece objectively. Very valuable lessons can often be learned from what may well be this painful experience.

The best way in conclusion to develop our writing skills is therefore to be forever aware of the need to do same and be forever on the look out for ways in which to do so. Never grow complacent or over-confident in your own ability - for as someone once said, "Pride comes before a fall."

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