How would you rate these in order of importance?
Ben Violette asked in the Orkut Writer's community:
How would you rate these in order of importance as qualities for a writer to have:
- Persistance
- Talent
- Skill
- Education
- Discipline
- Creativity
One of the best questions I've seen thus far on Orkut. While Michelle Young is right in many ways, I do believe there is some priority implicit in the list. My answer is jaded since I mostly write and read non-fiction.
- Discipline, that instills...
- Persistence, that teaches...
- Skill, that implements...
- Creativity, that focuses...
- Talent, which benefits from...
- Education
At least in my experience. One can have all the degrees and raw talent they want, but too frequently, they can't follow anything more than a writing formula. Add creativity and you can start defining your own style. It takes practice, practice and more practice to yourself skillful. A skillful writer doesn't achieve much unless they actually write, though. Writing is hard because it demands time, patience and focus. That's discipline. So, without discipline, the rest of the list is just seems like pretense.
I would argue that the only difference between discipline and persistence is execution.