Writing as Magic Writing is powerful stuff. To many beginning writers, it seems impossible such intense experiences could be created through plain craftsmanship and hard work. There has to be more to writing, the beginner thinks, than poring over a word processor or typewriter, trying one word, then another, then another, then moving the sentence, then cutting it, then bringing it back somewhere else. Real writers sit, ponder a moment, and write genius. Words flow from the gods onto the paper.
Perfect sentences coalesce from nothing.
Good writing comes through magic, and the magic of writing is talent, a talent with which some are born and some are not. The ailing writer who believes writing is magic is often worse off than the ailing writer who believes it's science. With science, there's at least a chance the writer will eventually catch on, which encourages her to study, listen, and keep trying to decipher the rules. Her approach may be in the end unworkable, but at least she's putting in active effort. Magic, on the other hand, the writer either possesses or doesn't.