Are people born writers? Or are writers created by years of practice and strong teachers?
Today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu was Geoff Colvin, senior editor-at-large for Fortune magazine. The veteran reporter and author explored his recent book, “Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else.” He talked about how we overvalue talent in our culture, arguing that writers are shaped by teachers and practice–not innate talent.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “Most of us, especially in the early days of our development, are not well-qualified to design our own deliberate practice. We don’t know enough about the field as beginners to know where we should be pushing ourselves next or what abilities we should be developing. We also need an outside set of eyes, somebody who can observe the performance and give us an honest session of feedback. Anybody who is a writer really needs someone who can help them design their practice, tell them what to do next, judge what they’ve done, and make them do a lot of work.”