I'm sure some, if not most, of you had seen the movie Ratatouille. Remember chef Gusteau's dictum that 'Anyone can cook'? Would this also apply to content writing?
Yes, anyone can write but few people can write well. I for one can't write well. I'm the first to admit that. For example
Everyone can slap a bunch of words on a page, but fortunately many buyers are smart enough to know that alone doesn't constitute writing. Your poll also doesn't make sense. The fact that something can be a learned skill in no way means that everyone is capable of learning it.
theapparatus said it well. But it's a skill you can learn, granted you like writing enough to devote your entire life trying to improve it.
I beg to differ- anyone can write, but not necessarily write well. Writing is, no doubt, a skill that one can master over a period of time. There are others who are born with the panache and flair for words (Eminem, for instance)- but such people are few. Anyone can, in my opinion, write well if he/she is dedicated towards skilling up to the job.
everyone can talk but not all are smooth talker, everyone can run but not all can run as fast as the fastest runner.
I think most people can write, and even learn to write well with practise. That's not the same as being a great writer, which I think is a gift much like being a great musician. As for copy writing specifically, the same rules apply. It's a skill that can be learned, but I believe the very best copy writers are gifted individuals.
Yes! I agree with you Megaresp. Most people can write their one article just level of concentration required towards topics and its relevant things. Even i was also dumb in writing articles but after having my own personal blog now i am eligible to write articles of my own interest. Writing Skills can be polished through reading much articles and get engaged to the possible writers styles & techniques
When I was in high school, I learned about the 5 paragraph essay. - Introduction - Point 1 - Point 2 - Point 3 - Conclusion Nice and simple. Seems like most copy that I read, it's: - Introduction - Rewritten Introduction - Rewritten Introduction another way - Conclusion Most of the make money online blogs I read, including many of the biggies, read like that to me. They just hash a point over and over again to make a post without giving any real meat to the subject.
It's easy to assume that because something can be learned, anyone can learn it. But that's not exactly true. There still has to be some level of talent to build upon in the first place. Saying that "everyone can write" because it's a learned skill is like saying everyone can hit a home run. It's just not true. You can learn the basic skill all you want, but if you don't have some level of strength and hand / eye coordination, it's never going to happen. The real problem is that people don't always know what "writing" is (hint: taking ezinearticles, changing some wording, and calling yourself a writer on DP doesn't make you a writer - at best it makes you a pretty lousy editor). Want proof? Just look at half of the ads in the BST section from people claiming they've studied the language for years, when it's obvious they still can't string a few sentences together. Completely learned skill my ass. You can either do it, or you can't. The learned skill aspect is about improving what you already have to begin with.
Having taught it for years, I'd say that you can teach the fundamentals of writing. You can teach sentences, paragraphs and essays. But it is next to impossible to teach voice and creativity - they have to be inspired and innate.
I believe it's possible to turn a terrible writer into an OK writer, and you can turn a good writer into a GREAT writer, but there's a line between OK and good that is much harder to cross. You can make someone who can barely string a few words together, and doesn't use punctuation properly learn some basic rules to improve their writing, but flair is something that can't be taught. You can practice, read lots, and improve - but its something that you have to develop yourself.
"If writing were for mortals than all humans would write, but at this time I would have to say that the heart of a creative writer belongs in the ancient history museum." As quoted by me
Writing can be learned, although for many their writing will still not be as well put together as someone who comes by the skill naturally.
Definitely writing can be learned, that's why we go to school to learn grammar, sentence structure, among other things. Let say it can be also a talent but what's the use of talent if we won't practice it, we won't use it.. Practice coupled with experience is the key to become a good writer in our own rights.
Writing can be learned that is for sure. The problem is that style is personal. Some people follow some blogs only because of the writing style of one particular writer and they ignore grammar mistakes. You can learn to write well but the style is personal.
For sure, writing is a skill that can be learned and developed through regular practice. However, there is an underlying fact that some people have some kind of inbuilt potential with this skill, which allows them to excel in this field.
Certainly not everyone can write. If everyone could write there would be no economic demand for it because supply would totally crush it.
Everyone can write but not everyone can write that good. I am not much of a writer myself. I rarely blog and so I am bad in writing. But with enough practise and learning everyone will be able to write, I guess.
I think that although everyone can learn to write, some people "have it" and some people don't. I think people who naturally write well also love to read, and have read a lot. They've learned through reading how to turn a phrase, and how to put words together to clearly get a point across, or to create pictures in the mind... Of course, I could be totally wrong