Do You Have What It Takes? 5 Things Every Writer Needs

Writing seems pretty basic. You open a document or notebook, put out some words, and voila! You did it!

Things aren’t always as they seem, though, as anyone who has ever tried to write a novel knows. Between faulty plans, battles against the inner editor, and the never-ending temptation to scrap that annoying draft, it can sometimes seem nearly impossible.

Writing takes skill… but much of the skill it takes can be acquired through practice and effort. Most fantastic writers aren’t born that way—it’s a cultivated talent.

So what exactly is needed to be a writer?

1. A love of the written word

This one almost goes without saying—if you don’t like reading, why would you want to write? The best writers start by reading. They devour books of all sorts and genres by a variety of authors, because they just can’t get enough of the stories. The begin to learn how to write in the most simple, natural way—in seeing how other people have done it.

Reading introduces us to a plethora of important writing concepts, even if we don’t know the names for them. We see that plots build and then resolve. We watch our characters grow and change. We learn how words can be manipulated through metaphors, similes, alliteration, and other figurative language to pack a punch. We discover authors and writing styles that we like… and others that we don’t.

This is where the writer begins to form.

We learn our own unique voices by listening to those of others. Characters and plots can be inspired by books we’ve read and loved. Reading books gives us something to aspire toward.

2. A vivid imagination

Reading books forces us to imagine and prepares us for what we’ll have to do as writers—you can’t write a work of fiction without a good imagination. Writers have to be able to see life through their characters’ eyes and delve into their settings and decisions.

It doesn’t matter what genre you write in; imagination is vital. Whether it’s the tale of a heartbroken florist in Manhattan or that of a dragon surgeon in another galaxy, you have to get into your characters head—if the author can’t, how will the readers?

Writing a contemporary romance doesn’t necessarily take less imagination than writing a work of science fiction or fantasy, but it definitely does take a different type of imagination.

Regardless, it’s up to you, as the writer, to create the most vivid and real setting and characters possible. If you have a bright imagination, you’re on your way to success.

3. Ideas

You can have a bright imagination, but if you don’t have original ideas that can be built into a story plot, you’re not going to make it far. An idea is the very beginning of any book; without one, there’s nothing to write.

Ideas can also be a bit of a problem sometimes, as they like to distract us. A great way to fight this is to keep a notebook of ideas. Write down a sentence or two for any idea that settles in your head. When you’re looking for a new project, if an idea still sticks, it’s the perfect time to pick that idea up and run with it!

4. Purpose

Every writer writes for a reason. For some, it’s to hold readers to their seats and leave fear lingering in their minds. For others, it’s to remind them of love and leave them warm inside. Nobody writes for no reason—there’s a purpose in it.

For me, the purpose is to produce more Christian fiction for girls and women to read and enjoy; books that will edify them and God through entertainment.

Purpose doesn’t have to be something deep and meaningful either—maybe you don’t write for anyone else, but rather as a form of therapy or to keep those thoughts from cropping up in your head. Maybe it’s a way you respond to problems in your life.

Any reason is a good reason!

5. Persistence

Now, all those elements are good and dandy, but without this last one, they’re all completely useless. Persistence… perseverance… stick-t0-it-iveness… whatever you want to call it, it’s absolutely vital to being a writer.

Because here’s the deal—you’re not going to just magically finish projects. There are points when the well of inspiration runs dry, and you have to forge on anyway. Finishing a project in and of itself takes incredible intentionality.

You can have a whole lot of talent, but if you can’t push through and finish a project, it’s completely and totally useless.

So when you hit an inspiration dry spell, don’t doubt yourself and your dream. Remember that every writer has to push through those moments… days… weeks… months… years. There will be times when it’s a struggle to find the words. Everything you write will seem wrong and ugly and not good enough.

But if you’re writing those words, they’re exactly the words that need to be.

Writers are perhaps determined in a small measure by talent. But 99% of it is the choice to keep going even when it gets hard. To write manuscripts knowing they probably won’t be publishable. To keep practicing and improving and reading and learning and writing.

Because someday one of those projects will be the one. All those unseen, unknown projects will pay off because they will have made you the author of something worth reading.

Is there anything you would add to this list? Which do you find most important?

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