Sometimes beginning at the beginning is really helpful,
         no question can be as fundamental as, Can you Write?

  The answer is almost certainly yes - thousands of people enjoy writing or at least have to make the best of having to write (it may be a requirement of your job or an informal / formal role you play). As usual your particular answer to the question will come from your reading or interpretation of the question. In this respect whether or not you CAN write probably depends on the kind of writing you like or would like to produce. To make this clearer, try substituting one of the following into the question (below); creatively, poetry, short stories, a novel, a play, essays.

Q. Can You Write ........?

Another part of your answer probably relates to why you write. Is it for yourself, your family, friends, partner, a group, a mass or mass market audience? On this basis an example of the refined question might look like:

Q. Can You Write Poetry For a Mass Market Audience?

For the newer writer there’s unlikely to be so much certainty when you put it like this. No doubt you may have great self belief, but how do you know unless you’ve actually done it successfully. This isn’t an exercise in doing yourself down. Instead it’s a way of assessing your own starting point as a writer:

  Where you are now.

  Where you began.

  What you like to do.

  How you’d like to develop your craft.

It’s important because it marks the position you believe you’ve reached on your own scale of aspiration. It should help you to decide what you need to do next in order to develop your writing further. How much effort is required to enable you to reach your desired aims. Chances are, you feel comfortable with some form of writing, for some type of audience. But, you may wish to progress to other forms or to increase the audience you reach.

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