I’ve already written about the fact that engaging a mentor could be the secret to going from good to great as a writer.
And I’ve detailed what makes a web writer great (with a short quiz).
However, there is more to this than just creating great content.
This truth struck me during an interview with Pio dal Cin … the host of the Google+ Hangout On Air show You Are the Star … when he asked me what makes a writer great.
The funny thing is I thought I was prepared for that question.
After reading the interviews on Kelton Reid’s “The Writer Files” with people like David Meerman Scott and Daniel Pink, and pondering their answers to the same question, I thought I had it all figured out.
But when Pio asked me I went totally blank (about 28 minutes in on the video). In fact, I stalled for nearly a minute trying to figure out what I was going to say. And as I fumbled forward with half-baked statements it slowly became apparent …
Great writers will write no matter what. Security or suffering. Fame or obscurity. Inspiration or blank slate. They have a will to write.
Hunter S. Thompson is a great example. In 1959 he wrote:
As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I’m not sure that I’m going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says, ‘you are nothing,’ I will be a writer.
That’s the professional mindset.
Writers are no different from plumbers, nurses, and accountants. We have a job to do, the attitude being if I walk to Creativity’s door and find it locked — I kick down the door.
It is a determination to write for four or four million readers. It’s what Jeff Goin’s called perseverance.
And it includes a drive for mastery … the great writer wants to get better. They want to be competent because he or she feels that is the proper response to the gift they have been given. They don’t want to fail. And they don’t want to fall into obscurity.
So they write no matter what.
The next question is this: is this drive something that you can manufacture?
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No. A person cannot and should not attempt to manufacture the drive to write. It is not healthy. Or sane. Grocery lists, personal journals and emails, yes. But professional writing? No. It had better be something a person cannot NOT DO or else. It is a natural urge similar to other bodily functions, and it MUST be met in order to survive.
“… and it must be met in order to survive.” Well put.
Good points! I’m gonna say, yes, you can manufacture it. Cause drive is undergirded partially by feeling. And we must manipulate our feelings or they will manipulate us.
It is impossible to master something like writing–or any other profession for that matter–without pressing through a complete lack of motivation at some point. Drive, to me anyway, is that internal setting that says, “do it anyway.”
Great point. I think the will to write is native to the person (as Mia suggested), but there is also an element of just doing your job no matter how you feel. Loving what you do helps.
I firmly believe that “drive” for anything cannot be manufactured. Especially a creative endeavor such as writing.
I think that a writer can lose their drive and in that case you must persevere, per Jeff Goins, but even then the writer is not manufacturing, their borrowing drive from somewhere else to be repaid more creativity at another time.
But the non-writer cannot manufacture drive to be a writer. No equity.
Hanley
Yep, it’s native to the person. They must create — whether it’s paint, sculpture, write.
I love the Hunter Thompson quote, Demian. Thank you.
The video is a real treat too. Personally, I think the poet idea is excellent 🙂
I’m wondering, how many marketing copywriters are poets at heart … and how many are (not).
(Time to check in on self)
Don, more than probably would admit. 😀
Your welcome.
Demian, I love that Hunter S. Thompson quote as well. And you’re right. That concept applies to other passions/obsessions.
It’s interesting to think about what makes a great writer compared to what is great writing. Is it subjective? Can one exist without the other?
I think we all strive to be great and create great things. One thing I have learned, and Hunter’s quote goes there, is you have to declare yourself. He declares himself a writer as you do.
Personally I have never been prouder than when I could unquestionably declare myself an artist. It was empowering regardless of whether I was a great artist. I was doing it as a professional.
Keep up the great posts. Always a pleasure to read.
Matt, that’s what I was trying to avoid in my answer with Pio. Great content can be subjective … is Shades of Grey great writing because fifty million people bought it? Harry Potter? Lords of the Ring? Shakespeare?
There is definitely a difference between mediocre and great writing. But I wanted to isolate the trait in the person. What makes them great … and it’s not popularity. There are too many artists who spent their lives in obscurity, toiling away in the dark, only to get recognition long after they are dead. Thank goodness they worked in spite of their lack of living success.
Mind-pricking work here, Demian!
Maybe, just maybe, a great writer is one who dedicated his life to the pursuit of greatness, fully accepting that getting there is uncertain but certainly attainable so why not go for it?
I have never read any H.S. Thompson but these interesting quotes could be pushing me over the edge.
I like your new blog formatting, by the way!
Best,
Peter
I always love it when you comment. Thank you. And yes, why not go for it! I think you will enjoy Thompson. You can start with one of his most popular articles: The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved.