Writing can be a gift
Writer: Joe Congel
There are many authors who have given me the gift of writing. Every time I read a story that takes me out of my world and into theirs, I’m enjoying the gift of fantasy, mystery, make-believe, and even heart-stopping thrills. Those stories are their gift to me, and I am happy to accept them.
We’ve all heard people refer to certain authors as gifted writers. I will concede that there are some writers out there who, after just one novel, seem to have everything figured out. It appears to come easily to them… that they are gifted. But what we don’t see as the reader are the hours that went into honing their craft, sometimes for years before that big break turned them into an overnight success, making it all look easy.
From the perspective of the writer, those hours spent alone with just our thoughts, pen and paper, or a computer, are a labor of love. But easy is not the word most of us would use to describe any writing talent we may have.
In the same way a talented athlete possesses the passion that drives them towards perfection, a talented writer must also possess the passion for improving their writing skills. Because, like that athlete, raw talent will only blossom into greatness with practice. If there is a willingness to put in the work, then the possibility of being referred to as gifted exists.
For the writer, that passion is for the written word. Putting words together is easy. Putting the right words together can be difficult. Not quitting, even in the face of a total manuscript overhaul, takes resolve. The ability to breathe life into an idea by shaping the words into a story takes skill, and a determined mindset. When done right, the words flow, and the reader becomes absorbed in the narrative. But that passion and determination can also push us to keep reworking and trying to improve the storyline. So, we continue to rewrite the words. And although that may appear to keep us inspired, it can also lead to frustration preventing us from attaining that perfection. Sometimes the gift is to know when to leave well enough alone.
Creative writing is a learned skill. The more you do it, the more you improve. Getting better at something you love doing, and then having the people you share it with appreciate it… well, that’s a gift in itself.
There are many genres and many ways to tell a story. And we all do it differently. Of course, there can be similarities in styles and story plots, but that can be chalked up to like-minded people who enjoy writing about the same subject. But even two like-minded writers who work in the same genre will craft two completely different stories when given the same writing prompt, a difference that is also a gift as it helps us see things from each other’s perspective.
As a reader, you may love one story and hate the other, but it doesn’t diminish the hard work and time spent by each author. It also doesn’t make one writer more gifted than the other. For every reader that falls in love with a book, there is another who doesn’t appreciate it for what it is. Readers who loved the book believe the author has a knack for telling a great story… is gifted, even. Readers who disliked the book may not have as high an opinion of that same author and won’t be a fan.
Sometimes the gift is not in the ability to write amazing prose at all. Sometimes the actual gift is in an author’s ability to market their work. I’ve read some pretty terrific books by indie authors that most people have never heard of, and I’ve read some pretty mediocre books by authors that are media juggernauts.
So, is writing a gift? That depends on how you look at it. There are writers and storytellers all over the world providing an escape through entertainment. When I’m writing, I get lost in my characters’ lives and can’t wait to see how it turns out. When I’m reading a good book, the same thing happens—I get lost in the characters’ lives and can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’m a fan. A devotee of both writing stories and reading stories written by others, and that, to me, is the actual gift of writing.
About the Writer
Joe Congel loves a good mystery. It’s what inspired him to become a writer. He is the author of The Razzman Mystery Crime Files series, starring Tony Razzolito, PI. Deadly Passion, book 2 in the series, recently won a 2022 SpeakUpTalkRadio FireBird Book Award in the crime fiction/hardboiled category. He has written three books in the series and is working on book 4, which will be released in 2023
Writer’s Website: Joe Congel