Talent or determination? It may be both

What does it take to write a story the world over loves? How do those incredible writers craft their words in such a way that people have to stop and catch their breath because what they read was so powerful and so beautiful?

I was just reading through several lists of recommended reading. The topics varied by the bookstore recommending them, but I started to recognize some of the same titles that continuously earn a place on the best-loved-books lists. Memoirs of a Geisha, Snow Falling on Cedars, Angela's Ashes, Beloved. What is it about these stories, and the writers who tell them, that captivates people? What do they know about putting words together that others try to imitate but can never seem to capture?

A great deal of it is inborn, I think, something that comes naturally to some while others have to work very hard but never quite make it. Not that I don't think it can be learned, to some extent, but the most talented writers are just that: talented. It's not something they can necessarily create within themselves. No amount of writing classes or books will turn a poor writer into a great one. Mediocre, maybe, but extraordinary, unlikely.

That leads me to wonder about myself: Do I have what it takes to be a great writer? I hope so, and I think I might. For me the question isn't if I have the talent for it, but if I have the perseverance to stick it out when the story isn't flowing the way I think it should or the words on the page don't all feel inspired. Greatness is something I'll have to work at, if I can ever get there.

Maybe the key lies somewhere in there. Most talented people don't just sit down and have the book pour itself onto the page from their frantic fingertips--at least not most of the time. They still have to work at it; they still have writer's block and uninspired days. What truly brings about greatness, then, is the persistence to work through the hard times while developing those God-given talents that lie dormant within.

I promise this essay isn't about my vanity; more, it's a search within myself to figure out if my determination to be great, combined with natural talent, is enough for me to achieve the greatness I desire. Will people one day add my own works to their bookstore's greatest-books list? Who knows. But I'll never find out if I don't try.