I'm not sure if being good at writing is an innate ability or a quality acquired over time, perhaps through voracious reading or a deep humanistic education. I imagine that, as with all matters in life, talent needs to be honed to share it with the world, and there are some people naturally more gifted than others.

However, talent, although an innate quality, must be recognized by someone, and often a group of people must agree to acknowledge it.

The same goes for those who write well. You don't necessarily need to be a novelist to do it. We often see very short texts that are extremely effective due to their originality and simplicity.

Simplicity. That's the real keyword here. Often, the greatest writers are appreciated by the general public precisely for this reason. If you have something to say, say it. Without too many words. Straight to the point.

Is there a way to improve? Is there a way to be a better writer? Perhaps today, as Seth Godin suggests, AI can help even those who can't string two understandable sentences together:

Get better at writing. You might not think you’re a professional writer (you’re a doctor! you’re a manager! you’re a teacher!) but if it’s an important part of your job, you are a professional, or at least we expect you to be.

Now there’s a second option. If the writing you’re doing doesn’t need to be in an idiosyncratic voice, take your memo, paste it into claude.ai and say, “please rewrite this to make it clear, cogent, positive and concise.”

I've wondered if this could also apply to those with a blog. If leveraging AI could be helpful. Probably yes, but only with the form. And although it might help with substance too, I hope those eager to share their world with others do so genuinely, without needing technology to invent stories.

What's the point of all this? I too would like to become a better writer one day. To entertain with an incisive style while maintaining my narrative consistency. I don't think this necessarily has to turn into a book; my blog is enough for me. Knowing that those who come here to read do so because they're interested in what I write, but also in how I write it.

Meanwhile, I'll try, as much as possible, to always ask myself these questions just before I start writing my first sentence from now on:

But everyone isn’t going to read your work, someone is.
Can you tell me who? Precisely?
What did they believe before they encountered your work? What do they want, what do they fear? What has moved them to action in the past?