style - How to overcome the fact that I can't write?

My problem is that I basically suck at writing. Especially prose.

Part of it is basically because I don't practice as much as I could.

Part of it is because I'm just not talented in that way.

However (seemingly) brilliant ideas for stories keep invading my head bugging me to write them and develop them. I hope you understand the brutal strength of the need of self-expression.

My question is, is it a viable approach to write in a freeform, style-less way to get the basic ideas and plot down and then try to go trough it again and try to force some style (and essentially Beauty) upon it? Is this nuts? Do you have experience with such a way to produce literature? Success stories?

Answer

Writing is one of the areas in which it is the most dubious that there exists such a thing as latent talent.

There are a few important pieces of evidence for this:

• Writers frequently get better and better as they mature into middle age in contrast to disciplines traditionally considered talent-based, like sports or mathematics.



• There are no child prodigies in writing. There are children who are very good for their age, but there are no children producing good literary works by the criteria used to judge adults. Even good literary work by somone in their late teens or early twenties is unusual (again in contrast to talent-based disciplines).


• Writers do not always start at a young age. Many excellent writers began as adults.

Check out this article on expert performance if you believe you do not have the innate talent to write well. You almost certainly do, but it may take years of concentrated effort.