What skills does a writer need?

What skills does a writer need to have? It’s a difficult, if unanswerable, question.

A strong visual imagination and an ability to observe and recall are important skills, as is curiosity. You also need to be a keen reader.

Some writers have a natural ear for dialogue. Others have the ability to put the subtlest of thoughts into words. Others can paint a scene in a few strokes of the keyboard. A good writer plays to their strengths.

But writing is just not about the practical skills you will learn on the Creative Writing Programme.

It’s also about tenacity and commitment. Our experience tells us that it is not always the obviously talented writer who completes their project or gets published. The writers who keep going and take criticism and rejection positively are more often the writers who get to write The End or get a publishing deal.

The ability to sit in front of the keyboard or notebook and keep writing, even when it’s hard and even after receiving criticism of your work, is the greatest skill a writer can possess. An agent and publisher wants to know that you’re in it for the long haul, that you’re dependable and that you’ll be able to make the all-important deadline for your second novel. So sit down and keep writing!