Everyone who writes is a writer
I just don’t have enough respect for the craft.
Carol Cassara published today a very nice blog post in which she raises the old question: “Is everyone who writes a writer?” In her article, she defends that:
It’s true that with the preponderance of blogs and self-publishing, anyone at all can write. But being a writer? That’s a whole different thing. There’s a discipline to the craft of writing, and to be a good writer, you have to have a certain knack for it. And some training.
I read it and pondered.
My conclusion is that, regarding its title, I’m a radical and my answer is “yes.” I also think that everyone who paints is a painter, and everyone who sings is a singer. It is a hard stance to hold, but I hold it nonetheless.
I think every time a technological advance popularizes a form of artistic expression (like the Gutenberg press did, for instance, or the invention of photographic machines) the community feels that their art form is endangered somehow, like only rare bird could. I think this is a very natural feeling. We feel sheltered under the roof of our art form and protective of our place, since it took us a long time and effort getting there.
But I don’t think we need to worry. Professional photographers don’t worry anymore about the fact that even the cheapest mobile phone today is equipped with a camera, because quality and skill are still valued above everything else. This logic also holds for the film industry (it also works for the music industry.) Why wouldn't it hold for literature?
Don’t get me wrong, though. I agree with Carol: you should learn the tools of your trade, because it is easier to express yourself and to please your audience while knowing some of the necessary tricks. She ends her article like this:
Here’s what I suggest: If you’re doing any kind of writing at all, take a few workshops. Understand the structure of a well-written piece. Learn some grammar. Don’t just gush on a page—learn a little something about how to put a good piece together, and whether it’s a blog or not, apply that learning. Get some editing help.
I know I sound crotchety. But here’s the thing: I love my craft and I love to welcome people to it.
But I’d like them to give it the respect it deserves.
And I think her tips are awesome (and vital.)
I just don’t have enough respect for the craft.
Let the readers say what pleases them (as Carol herself said in one of the comments of her post.) If they are not being entertained or touched, they will move onto things that can reach them. And since what is not read can’t hurt a written medium, there’s no need to be afraid. The days will march on, carrying with them what is not good enough to stand on its own, and literature will come out richer than before.
So I say: everyone who writes is a writer. Let’s open the doors of our private club, if there’s still one there somewhere. I think it is invigorating to any art form to receive such an influx of unprepared people wanting to play too. It is rejuvenating. It expands our frontiers. More than a few of the great discoveries and revolutions of our time have been made by minds which started out disrespectfully and too ignorant to know what to fear, only to end up shaping the world around them.
So everyone who writes is a writer. To be a good one: that’s something else entirely.
