Serious Question. How much of a factor is talent in determining

Talent will always be a thing. But discipline can get you far.

>>8286116
People tell me I have talent all the time, but my writing is still bad. If I wrote a book that had a phenomenal plot, every reader above the age of 16 would put it down for bad prose. How can I improve? How can I get to the level where I can express my thoughts beautifully and create art on a page? Taking classes are not an option as of right now, but I have all the free time in the world and all the motivation, I just need a direction to go in

>>8287551
Some general advice: read more, watch more, learn more, experience more, and write more. I empathize with you, but you have to realize that it's a long, steady process and real success only comes if you play the long game.

>>8287572
Thank you, just what I needed to hear. I am content with that, as I am going to dedicate my entire life to writing

>>8286106
Talent is difficult to understand. people seem to view it as something that unearthes itself in certain individuals as a property. In truth there could be nothing magical about it and it's composed entirely by Upbringing + lack of obstacles in the way of becoming good at specific parts of a craft, which if enough of these parts could be accumulated one assembles them with "spit" as glue so to speak into a composite body which is writing. This is only wherein upbringing is conducive to development. This is just because i enjoy writing what i think but here's the quick unsatisfying version of it because if i were any good at making my thoughts into words i would be writing: If you haven't felt it in your bones ever since you were a child, if you were not raised reading books ceaselessly, if you were not passionate since childhood you're Fucked. There is a certain array of color unavailable to people who have not been marinated in their craft since childhood and it is impossible to attain such ability at any other time in your life. Same thing with painters and composers. The trouble with writing is it's not as easy to distinguish it as a craft logistically speaking unlike painting.
If you started when you were a kid, then you can talk tactics etc. Otherwise i advise you to give up.

I don't think anyone became great by spending their time wondering whether they were destined to fail

it's better not to think about it

>>8287572
Pretty much this. Of course you need to know how to write, like the principles of composition, good grammar, the elements of style. But life experience is most important. Knowing personalities and how they view the world and how they work through life, how they think. Writing is not peddling words. You need to be receptive to the motivations and consequences behind characters in life and fiction. Putting it into words is the easy part.

Talent is a word ascribed to ability of someone who is demonstrably very good at doing something.

Talent is pretty much established by nature, and then either quashed or quenched by nurture.

>>8286106
No one's born with talent to be a great writer, but some people find themselves on a life path, sometimes from a very young age, that quenches all possibility of being the type of person who can developing talent, while some are lucky. That's my view anyway.

>>8286106

It's crucial, and it's inate.

Writing is a skill that can be honed just like drawing, playing the piano, and pretty much anything else for that matter, but your inherent predisposition will limit where the skill cap lies.

You could get the a level of writing where you're in the 90th percentile, but you will never be in the 95th percentile, let alone the 99th percentile.

Either way don't get memed. Whether or not you're talented, you still need hone your skills.

Don't think about it too much
The first book I ever finished writing was the first book I sold

It was a 10.000 word mafia book
I sold it to a guy for 50 euro

The second one I wrote was 25.000 words, sold that for 250$, it was better and the guy loved my plot idea

And so on
Yea I used to write a bit as a kid for school and people said "woah you're good" but I didn't write that much
As I said, never finished a book before the one I sold

Since I got good at writing fiction, I moved onto non-fiction
It's been a sturdy road but I'm working on several now and I'm happy with them