[PUBLIC POST] What's a non-writing skill useful for writing?

[ljwrites]

A lot of us spend time working on the practice and theory of fiction-writing. But are there skills that don't have to do directly with fiction writing that are nontheless helpful? I've heard of art being useful to writers, for instance, and a musician I know is guided by her musical skills and inspirations when writing. I know another writer who's also an actor, and have heard anecdotally of actors making good writers. Andrew Robinson, who played Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, wrote the novel A Stitch in Time about his character's background that I found wonderfully moving and evocative, not to mention great world-building of Cardassia. I can see a direct connection there between the two skillsets since acting is about expressing characters, like much of writing is.

While I am not an actor, I found my experience playing and running roleplaying games highly useful for understanding characters and keeping track of storylines in my writing projects. Roleplaying has also given me a perspective of stories not as something that comes from me but from the characters' own motivations and interests. When it comes down to it I have to inhabit these characters and play them, an ethos that I apply to writing as well.

Are there non-writing skills or experiences that you find useful for writing? Have you observed others using different skillsets when writing?

Comments

[jae]

Personally, I think the most important skill for a fiction writer to have that doesn't directly have to do with writing is empathy. Being able to really put yourself into the perspective of someone who is not you and perhaps not very much like you at all is crucial to writing well-rounded characters. (And yes, to some extent that's an innate ability that people have or don't have, but it's also a skill that can be developed. Even if you're good at it.)

-J

[ljwrites]

Absolutely, and in my linked post I mentioned an article that says writers score unusually high on empathy. It's not clear which caused which, but I suspect it goes both ways--empathetic people turn to writing, and writing helps develop empathy. I wish the study had also shown how writers scored on the different dimensions of empathy, like say cognitive (knowing how people feel) and emotional (feeling along with them). My hunch is that cognitive empathy is almost a must for effective writing, but that emotional empathy might vary which is why writers aren't necessarily nice people. In fact, high cognitive empathy without emotional empathy, or at least some sort of compassionate response, might be downright dangerous.