Question:
Is it true: anyone can write, but it takes imagination to come up with something great?
2014-10-23 03:09:28 UTC
I guess what I am saying is: everyone can write brilliant prose, but without a good imagination or a good story, you have nothing?
94 answers:
jane s
2014-10-24 16:50:40 UTC
Not really, that's not true. Writing involves lots of components and skills. Having a good imagination is just part of what you need. Writing a decent novel is a lot harder than most imaginers imagine. You have to plan, do research (if you want your book to be authentic), organize the events in a plot, come up with good and realistic characters, come up with a working setting, and then write your first draft (which takes a long time - most people just write a few pages, realize they suck at formulating good sentences, and then give up). And if you're lucky enough to muster enough motivation to make it through the actual wiring part, expect to edit, and then edit, and then edit again. Enjoy.



Some people just wing it and start writing without planning the story out first, but I feel like it's more frustrating that way.





But to answer your question again, NO, imagination definitely not all you need to write something great. And NO, not everyone can write well. There's a few people in my life that I've met who actually know how to write well, and do it naturally.
Allusionary
2014-10-23 12:31:05 UTC
I don't think there is a simple answer. Not everyone has imagination. Most don't have the necessary writing skills. There are those who promote the idea that anyone can write and there is a novel in everyone. Mostly those folks are trying to sell how-to write books.



Beyond all of that, if you want to write, write. Its a passion. Its an art. Write for you. If you can make money doing it, that's even better.
Jen[Chocolate Burn]
2014-10-23 10:44:53 UTC
False. Writing is a learned activity. Some might find it easier than others, but every writer starts as an amateur. Good writers can take a lame idea, and through excellent writing, turn it into a superlative story. The words are the story, and more important than the idea (by extension the imagination) behind them.
2014-10-23 04:33:22 UTC
Not everyone can write good prose to begin with, but with practise, yes, everyone can. As with the imagination, you'll find the people who invest time into writing will have the better imaginations, and thus a better story will spark in their minds.
2014-10-29 00:54:48 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-28 11:38:35 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-28 06:19:02 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
Tina
2014-10-23 08:39:09 UTC
No, unfortunately not everyone can write brilliant prose, but yes, everyone is probably born with a good imagination. But everyone is born with perfect pitch. Unless it is exercised it gets lost.
inconsolate61
2014-10-23 10:16:39 UTC
Imagination certainly enters in to certain genre writing, but writing it is a communicative skill. and the ability to get that idea across to the reader in an absorbing manner, with good syntax and grammar, within the specific format of the novel, bio, history, so on, These are all learned skills. This discipline goes beyond simple composition aided with the use of a dictionary. It is a craft. It is the craft of storytelling, of forms, of subtitles, of presentation, of development. Good ideas and topics are simply where you find them. Public writing is a science of presentation.
Lillian
2014-11-04 09:21:32 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
smallbizperson
2014-10-23 13:25:13 UTC
I think we teach our children that they have vivid imaginations when this isn't always the case. This isn't a bad thing, it is something we are trying to nurture.

That said, I think the impulse to write and self-document is common, hence the constant requests for "ideas" from people on venues such as this from people who say they want to write. (Note, they "say they want to write," they aren't actually writing.)

The ability to actually write something that other people enjoy reading is a complicated set of skills that is quite rare, just as the ability is to always hit the basket for a three pointer, invent something we as a society believes we can't live without, or paint/sing/act in a way that has people willingly reaching in their pockets to pay for more art/music/movies.

So the short answer to your question is no. It takes more than imagination to be a great writer.
?
2014-10-27 06:50:30 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 05:51:45 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 22:42:18 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
Julia
2014-10-27 18:36:26 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-10-27 01:32:49 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-23 03:14:43 UTC
I dont know that either is true



a good friend of mine has been writing for years



Ive seen a progression, sometimes little spikes of brilliance



one thing thats certain, as her skills and knowledge have evolved over time and her confidence to try new things and access ideas and inspiration her stories and poetry has improved



noone is born or just becomes a good writer or simply has good ideas



like most things in life, learning and practice is the game
?
2014-10-26 13:18:53 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-10-26 03:54:10 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-11-02 18:48:44 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-25 22:59:00 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-11-03 14:32:34 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-10-26 04:13:14 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-29 09:52:58 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-10-25 22:12:38 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-10-29 17:21:13 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-24 23:50:49 UTC
Writing is a skill and like any other skill, some are naturally better than others. However, the more you read and write, the more you can hone your craft. Writing takes a lot of imagination, but one needs to have the skill to execute their ideas on paper. (:
?
2014-10-29 09:37:01 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-10-25 19:30:16 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-10-25 14:42:37 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-28 21:57:41 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-10-25 02:21:34 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-28 22:07:45 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-25 05:08:19 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-25 01:18:55 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-10-28 08:28:40 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-10-28 02:34:49 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
Logan
2014-10-28 07:13:15 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-25 02:36:17 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-27 11:33:58 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
Marli
2014-10-23 07:51:51 UTC
No. Imagination plays a part, but not everyone can convey his or her thoughts to the reader. A great author can persuade, can stir emotion, can light the "Now I understand it!" bulb in the reader by his use of words.



I can take a picture with my camera, but only a professional news-photographer can take a picture, at the moment, that "says it all" about a fire, murder, etc.
?
2014-10-26 11:46:30 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
David
2014-10-23 09:14:09 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-25 09:32:30 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
Tasm
2014-10-23 03:12:52 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-23 22:20:52 UTC
Everyone is born with an imagination—that's how we survive from day to day, by extrapolating based on our experiences, without having any proof that our prediction will ever bear out as fact—but its goodness is a subjective matter. Considering the likelihood of anyone thinking of The Next Great Story, only to go to the bookstore and discover that someone else got there first, it's less the quality of imagination and more the exploration of it. In that regard I'm reminded of something Neil Gaiman said: "You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we're doing it."



That's pretty much what it amounts to. I'll also go so far as to change 'writers' to 'artists'—and I mean that word in the most general sense, which includes fashion designers, architects, and so on. As a demographic of the human population, artists have learned to consciously harness their imaginations. This usually starts with a support network, even if it consists of just one person. "This is good work" may be one of the most important things someone can say to a fledgling artist, but it's up to the fledgling artist to not get a big head and assume that "good work" is tantamount to "flawless."



But that support can only go so far. Eventually, a caring supporter has to gently suggest proofreading or using photos to understand foreshortening and shadowing. This is where the artist has to have drive—the urge to keep going no matter what. Criticism, constructive or otherwise, is never easy to accept, but it can be handled with grace. The inability to realize that not all harsh criticism is destructive is another area where artists falter, because they take it as a personal attack and get defensive. If they become exhausted or otherwise give up easily, they have to settle for a life of mediocrity. All casual authors stop here, limited mainly by the weight of their own egos.



I first started writing when I was around ten years of age. My parents weren't exactly encouraging, but they didn't dismiss my imagination or limit the things that sparked it (e.g., I've never been told I'm "too old" to watch cartoons or read children's books). So at the time, with no real-life frame of reference, I believed I was amazing and inventive. The reality? Other than the spelling, the stuff was AWFUL. Flat, trite dialogue; chapters consisting of single, gigantic paragraphs; the infamous telling instead of showing . . . I'd done it all. But I kept writing, because no one told me I had to stop. In seventh grade and ninth grade, I had teachers who told me I wrote well. In hindsight, the stuff from that era is nearly as terrible as what came before it (melodrama like WHOA), but I knew I'd improved and I trusted my teachers to be kind to but honest with me.



So I kept writing and improving, little by little, and my most notable improvements came after I got up the guts to post online and subject myself to peer review. It's been ridiculously helpful because there are so many eyes and voices sharing their thoughts.



So the answer is yes—given time, anyone can learn to write. I won't say that there aren't people with "natural talent," for whom writing is a little easier than for others, but I think that talent manifests primarily as the drive to write, write, write, no matter what. Talent or no, all things become easier when done repeatedly—ask any athlete. And that means the drive to write can be fostered by any person with a decent sense of self-discipline; they can learn to notice when they get ideas and then have the wherewithal to grab and mold them. It's just a matter of wanting it that badly.
?
2014-10-23 06:19:09 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-11-07 16:46:16 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-11-02 22:41:31 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-30 17:52:06 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-11-05 20:50:04 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
Madeline
2014-11-05 05:46:25 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-11-04 03:40:03 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-11-04 02:56:44 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-11-04 01:40:05 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-11-04 01:20:35 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
Grace
2014-10-31 12:28:58 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-31 01:46:17 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-10-31 01:04:55 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
Leopold
2014-10-30 22:11:26 UTC
Anyone can write prose (look at Stephenie Meyer's writing, full of overdescription and sickening cliches), but not everyone can write BRILLIANT prose. You definitely need an imagination, but that's not all.
2014-10-30 10:31:24 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-30 00:14:42 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-29 16:49:42 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-10-29 12:17:31 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-10-29 10:51:12 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-10-29 02:50:10 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-29 02:08:22 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-28 22:40:47 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-28 14:23:25 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 11:30:36 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-11-07 13:59:31 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-11-06 20:54:40 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-11-03 18:59:24 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
Natalie
2014-11-03 01:02:07 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
2014-10-30 07:30:58 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
2014-10-29 06:31:51 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-28 23:32:56 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-28 11:29:37 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-28 09:14:14 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 23:09:48 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 17:02:10 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 15:22:43 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-27 12:05:56 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
?
2014-10-27 08:45:33 UTC
False, not everyone can write brilliant prose
?
2014-10-27 00:29:58 UTC
Writing is more than just having an imagination. Writing is long, hard work.
?
2014-10-26 11:14:09 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-10-26 00:35:55 UTC
False. Anyone can come up with a great idea, but lack the skill to write it.
2014-10-24 08:02:32 UTC
no,its not true.not everyone can write according to his or her imagination.its more easy to imagine than write.
Pieman
2014-10-25 16:13:54 UTC
It's some what true.
?
2014-10-23 03:17:04 UTC
not really, i have a great imagination but cant write worth ****
?
2014-10-23 03:12:49 UTC
Absolutely true.
?
2014-10-23 12:01:26 UTC
True
?
2014-10-24 11:38:37 UTC
practice
?
2014-10-24 18:01:09 UTC
i guess it depends


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