Are writers born or made? Here's the answer

There’s a scene in the movie “Blast From the Past” in which Christopher Walken tries to explain baseball to his son, played by Brendan Fraser, who has never seen the game.

Walken explains that, when the batter gets a hit, the runner at first base has to run to second, even if the second baseman has the ball and the runner will be out. Why does the runner run to second base if he’s going to be out, the son wonders. The father’s reply: “Because he must!”

It’s the same with writers and writing. Why do writers write? Because they must.

But let’s get one thing straight: It’s the writer who makes the writing, not the writing that makes the writer.

Whether writers are born or made seems to be an eternal — and hotly debated — topic. After 36 years as a professional writer and editor, I can assure you, writers are born, not made. They are NOT like other people.

But what does that mean exactly? Do writers have some innate gift that others can never acquire? Do they have some extra organ in their body that makes writing easy for them?

Not at all. Writing is never easy, no matter who you are, and it’s not a question of talent vs. skill, either.

Being a writer requires what Jaime Escalante called “the ganas,” translated in the movie “Stand and Deliver” as “desire.” In short, you have to want to do it. Moreover, you have to need to do it.

Someone asked me, “Do you enjoy writing?” I responded, “Do you enjoy breathing?” Writing is a compulsion. It's just something that writers do … because they have to … like breathing.

So, if you’re born a writer, does that make it a gift? As Adrian Monk used to say, “It’s a gift … and a curse.” It’s something that takes hold of you and won’t let you go, and when you get the words down on paper, it feels good. Is that a gift? It’s what you have to do.

Jack Kerouac, a writer far more famous than me, said, “Writers are made, for anyone who isn’t illiterate can write; but geniuses of the writing art like Melville, Whitman and Thoreau are born.”

Not to beat up on the beat writer, but that’s like saying anyone who can throw a ball can be Satchel Paige. In my opinion, Kerouac was confusing being a writer with being a great writer. Being a writer is in the being, not the doing. Being a great writer depends on how well you do it — but first you have to be born a writer.

Now we’re getting into the category of talent vs. skill. Talent is something you’re born with. Skill is something you acquire through learning and practice — in other words, work.

All of my daughters were in the performing arts, and one of them acquired a particular pearl of wisdom: Hard work beats talent when talent won’t work hard. It’s the same for writing as for singing or dancing. As the Parable of the Talents explains, it’s not just how many talents you’re given but what you do with them that counts.

So, if you weren’t born a writer, why bother? Because writing is a useful and necessary skill, like mathematics or map reading. Even if it only gets you from Point A to Point B, it’s a skill you should acquire and one you can improve through practice — no matter how much talent you have.

How do you know if you were born a writer? Trust me, you’ll know. It’ll keep banging on the back of your brain like a bill collector banging on your door. The writing will well up inside you, trying to find a way to the surface. My advice: Let it out!

The good news is, if you are a writer, it’s what you do. Just do it. The voice God gave you is good enough. Let it out, and all the rest will come with time.