Are Writers Born or Made?

Lately I've been pondering whether good writers are born or made. I've come to the conclusion that the answer is perhaps a bit of both.

The best way to improve your writing skills is...

Write. A lot.

I've been finding that as I begin to take on paid freelance writing projects for clients and continue to write for myself on eHow and other revenue-sharing sites, my writing is gradually becoming more fluid, and I hope, more coherent. I spend less time staring at a blank page and more time letting the words flow.

I've been lamenting what I perceive as my lack of conversationality in my article writing, but I also think my legal experience is serving me well. Much of web content writing is meant to be informative, third-person writing. You're not really supposed to notice the content producer as much as the content. eHow is a bit of a different beast since it has a community focus. Much like a blog, readers have more of an interest in knowing, and wanting to trust, the person behind the information.

For me, blogging helps me improve my ability to, you know, relate to people. Legal writing helps me practice the kind of fact-based writing that gets me freelance article-writing work. Right now my goal is to balance writing for myself on eHow, Bukisa and others, with earning a steady per-article income through freelancing.