Feb 10 2013: I completely agree, Linda. There are some things that require experience, and at least rudimentary education on the subjects, especially the examples you have given. If a person is attempting to write about sociology, but has no experience with other cultures or sub-cultures of society, it becomes nothing more than a reiteration of facts from research.
Feb 10 2013: Danny, I don't think age plays a significant role in writing abilities. However, at the same time there does seem to be a marked difference in the style of writing between young and old writers. Those of us who are over the age of 40 were taught in a much different manner than the younger generations. We were required to read the actual works of classic authors, analyze those works, flesh out the meanings of those works, and even know the history of those authors as people. I always like to use Charles Dickens and Emily Dickinson as examples, because they are household names world wide.
Today, the younger generations are shown the movies of those classic works, rather than requiring the students to read them. Some young people will wait for the movie to come out of popular books, instead of reading the book itself. Stories are even generated in the forms of video games. What I see happening is the vocabulary of the younger generations is dwindling, which has an effect on their writing skills. There's a tendency to tell their stories vs. show them, and also carry their stories with dialogue. In some cases, lots and lots of dialogue. It seems to be in direct relation of trying to present their story as a visual art rather than in writing.
Experience is crucial to the validity of any story, and lack of that experience sticks out like a sore thumb in some novels. If I tried to write a book about Amelia Earheart it would be a sorry piece of prose as I know nothing about airplanes or flying in general. I could write many books on flying, but if I know nothing about it, and / or have limited experience there's no credibility in the works, and I'm no better off in book 50 than I was in book 1.
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A reply on Conversation: Do you think that age makes you a better writer or the writing of many stories makes you so?
A comment on Conversation: Do you think that age makes you a better writer or the writing of many stories makes you so?
Today, the younger generations are shown the movies of those classic works, rather than requiring the students to read them. Some young people will wait for the movie to come out of popular books, instead of reading the book itself. Stories are even generated in the forms of video games. What I see happening is the vocabulary of the younger generations is dwindling, which has an effect on their writing skills. There's a tendency to tell their stories vs. show them, and also carry their stories with dialogue. In some cases, lots and lots of dialogue. It seems to be in direct relation of trying to present their story as a visual art rather than in writing.
Experience is crucial to the validity of any story, and lack of that experience sticks out like a sore thumb in some novels. If I tried to write a book about Amelia Earheart it would be a sorry piece of prose as I know nothing about airplanes or flying in general. I could write many books on flying, but if I know nothing about it, and / or have limited experience there's no credibility in the works, and I'm no better off in book 50 than I was in book 1.
Great topic.