How to be a Great Writer

On Being a Great Writer

Being a good writer is not very difficult when you think about it. All you must do is learn how to not be a bad writer. Being a great writer on the other hand is something entirely different. It goes beyond your skills and abilities as a writer, and requires you to have a certain thought process. Beethoven wasn’t a great composer because he learned everything there is to learn about music. He had a gift that can’t be learned, it must be developed over time.

This is not to say that you can’t be a great writer, because anyone can if they set their mind to it. The first step, as with anything, is knowing what you’re getting yourself in to. This is a hard lesson to learn because people tend to think things should be easy all the time. Being truly great at anything means that you will spend your entire life developing your skill. There will never be a point where you decide that your skills are good enough. You must always strive to improve because this is how you achieve greatness.

Aside from being an over-achiever, you must develop your ability to see both the bigger-picture as well as the smaller one. When you write a story, you are taking your reader on a textual journey. Life is complicated, and great writing allows for this complication. By this I mean that when J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, she didn’t JUST focus on Harry defeating Voldemort. While this was the main storyline, the story itself had 7 main mini-stories. Within these 7 mini-stories, there were even more stories. You must be able to keep track of the many storylines, and write in a way that helps the reader keep track as well.

When a writer is able to make me tear up, that is how I know that they are a great writer. I only cry when I experience sadness, and for a book that is completely fictional to make me experience a real emotion, that’s how you know they’re the real deal. Being able to put emotions into words and make a third-party reader be empathetic is not easy. You have to consider what your reader is thinking, and how certain words and actions will affect them. I can’t tell you how to do this in an article, but I will be sure to elaborate on evoking emotion from your readers in the future.

Greatness doesn’t come from one source or talent, it comes from a balance of talents and a thought process that allows you to see the bigger-picture as well as the smaller picture. If you can use the advice provided in this article and remain objective as you write, your writing will be taken to a new level. We hope you will comment on this with your opinions. Do you think these qualities are what make a writer great? Do you think that other qualities should be included? What did you have for breakfast today? We want to know all about you, so comment below and spread the word about this article!