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Dealing with Lack of Skills in Writing: a Misleading Premise

January 22, 2024

Writing

art, artist, book, creativity, fiction, literature, writing

Writing, drawing, composing music, and basically every form of art consists of two components: the artistic one and the technical one. That is, to express ourselves artistically we must first and foremost have something to say, but it’s not quite enough. We must also have the skills to do that. So, what happens when we lack the skills?

We’ll talk about all this in more detail – and we’ll have to start with understanding that the term “lack of skills” is somewhat misleading – but first a couple of examples, just to make sure we’re all on the same page.

As a sculptor, I have a great artistic side. I can visualize forms, shapes, flows, colors and textures, and I can see my artistic ideas in material form. Piece of cake.

The thing is, I have precisely zero technical skills when it comes to sculpture.

I don’t even know how to hold a chisel (is that what it’s called?) let alone use it. So, practically, I am not really a sculptor.

On the other hand, though I lack the skills to play guitar like Slash, I’m “good enough” to be able to compose the music I want to compose – the art I want to express. I suppose you can call me a musician.

Writing, however, is a bit different. And this leads to certain misunderstandings and issues, as I’ll show you.

painting of a man; lack of skills
I only started painting very recently, since I always considered myself unable to hold a brush. Maybe I still am, but thank goodness for digital tools…
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Writing Flash Fiction on the Fly

January 1, 2024

Fiction

creativity, fiction, imagination, writing

Today’s post is the result of a challenge I decided to give myself: What would happen if I gave myself a writing prompt and 15 minutes’ time to produce something? The task is even more challenging considering writing flash fiction is something I discovered relatively recently.

I’ve of course written tons of text in general – including short stories and even a similar kind of challenge – but this is a rather unique situation. As I said, writing flash fiction is something I’ve done less – and certainly not under pressure. But it’s important to get out of our comfort zone and try new things.

Here’s the methodology I decided to follow for this flash fiction challenge:

  • Prepare the post structure and metadata (headings, post category, etc.)
  • Write the introduction to this post (what you’re reading right now).
  • Use my Storytelling Dice to give myself a writing prompt. Note: At first I thought I’d just use the first generated image, but I then decided to generate a few, until I’d get something intriguing.
  • Start the clock, and start writing a flash fiction story!
  • Check for/correct minor typos.
  • Add a concluding section with the “how it felt” part.

I’m about to start “rolling the dice” and then I’ll start writing. The story begins under the image below – which is the writing prompt I got from the storytelling dice (I plan to add it after I finish writing). Let’s see how this goes!

writing flash fiction
If you want to try Storytelling Dice yourself, feel free
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Why I Will Likely Never Write Another Novel

December 4, 2023

Fiction, Writing

creativity, fiction, imagination, literature, short story, writing

Note: Ain’t life funny? Not a month later, I simply needed to start writing another novel! Read all about this new novel, The Storytelling Cat.

Whenever someone says “always”, “never”, or “everyone”, be very suspicious. I am too of my own utterance. Never write another novel? Never say never again! However, at this point in time, and with enough experience behind me, I do feel that way: I will likely never write another novel in the foreseeable future.

Why I feel that way might be a useful thought direction to you as well, especially if you’re a writer, but also if you’re simply someone interested in what art and expression mean in today’s world. More still, what forms creative writing takes and why I feel a novel is currently not among my favorite such forms.

digital painting, or the reason why I will likely never write another novel
Here’s one of the reasons why I may “never” write another novel: I’ve begun painting, which feels like a more direct, more idea-based form of art, compared to a novel which is a sustained, in-depth exploration
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