I do think writing has changed the way I look at the world. To an extent. I have always sort of "written" my life in my head. Now I feel urged to put it in a permanent form as it happens, although that is not always the case. I find other writers more interesting and can now differentiate between writers' tones. I have a lot of writers in my extended family and I wonder if the ability to be a strong writer is partly genetic. I have a step-grandmother who has been working on a novel about her dog for the last decade, shedding flesh and bone to be successful but unfortunately has not. Maybe genetics have cursed her.
I recently started reading a blog written by my mothers-cousins-wife. She is a writer who has published a few books and I find her tips intriguing, they kind of give insight to the workings of her brain. She knew going into college that she wanted to write and began as a Creative writing major, however, it was not really her thing. "I took a writing workshop class and hated it–there I was, stuck in a room with a bunch of other kids my age, reading each other’s mediocre, melodramatic teenage scribblings. What was the point? I didn’t see a lot of learning opportunity there. Just a lot of backscratching."So, she changed to an English major and now uses books as her main tool for writing when she is stuck, "When I’m feeling at my most frustrated with my own writing–”Why isn’t this clearer? Why does this part feel boring? Why can’t I find a better way to say this?”–I pick out a favorite old book, something that’s kept me entranced through countless readings and I read it again and it’s like taking a quick class in How to Make A Book Good."
There are so many great authors--and so many bad--yet each authors success is accredited to a different experience, exposure and up bringing, (parents?). I don't know if in the future we will ever truly know what makes a great writer, but for not it will just stay a mystery.
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