How to NOT get discouraged from writing when faced with the genius of others?

[AnnaGoeldi]

As a wannabe-writer with several failed attempts at writing fiction, one of my struggles is the admiration of other writers work. Sometimes I read a book that is so amazing that I feel like there is no point writing anything myself. There is nothing I could say or write that would even come close to this. Then again, I read a few pages of works like "Fifty Shades" and think.. all right, if somebody was confident enough to publish that.. maybe I shouldn't worry too much and just give it a go. I wonder if anybody else feels this way and if yes, what do you do or say to yourself to overcome this challenge?

 

[Karlin]

Hi Anna. Not every scientist needs to win a Nobel Prize. Just stick with it, and improve over time. I usually start out with self doubts (and often end with them too). What I do is write a chapter or two, then pass to a few friends or relatives for some initial feedback. All I am looking for is "hey that sounds interesting" or better yet "what happens next?", and I gain enough self confidence to continue

 

[K.Hudson]

I try not to compare myself to anyone when writing. but try to focus on the story I want to write. Also it's just futile to compare your rough draft to someone's final draft. It can take anywhere between 6 and 12, maybe even more drafts to have a good novel. Also a lot of those nice touches, quotable lines and polished prose, tends to come in one of the latest drafts, if not the final draft. The work will always look a little unpolished until you're close to the end. A better way to look at the genius of others is write down your favourite lines by them, and look at what elements you'd like to emulate and keep notes on it, because it might be useful when you polish your work in a later draft.

So, in short, the rough draft is typically a mess. The second draft is less of a mess but still very rough. The third, fourth and fifth drafts typically show gradual improvement, and after, probably the 6th or 7th, you start seeing a more polished product. Now, by draft, I mean any time you make changes to your entire manuscript. Not every change is a major revision. Major revision typically just comes with the second, and every revision/sweep is increasingly minor.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Fifty Shades is perhaps the ultimate piece of shit that somehow grew wings. It is both the great purveyor of hope and the great squasher of dreams. On the one hand, the writing is at an adolescent level (and that might be generous) and it sold millions of copies. On the other hand, thousands of authors are producing better work and going broke.

The simple answer is to push forward or quit. There is an old saying that "writers write" but this isn't necessarily true either. Sometimes, writers go live their lives and come back to writing more prepared to produce quality work.

In this modern world, there is simply no reason not to go for it. The amount of resources cheap or free and the self publishing world change everything. I wish I had that situation when I was in my teens and twenties!

Your issue isn't exactly what mine was, but it's probably on the same side of the coin (the flipside being people who think they're the greatest ever, mostly without evidence). There are zero novels/writers out there that I am in awe of. I love LoTR, ASoIaF, The Name of the Rose, Heart of Darkness, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, amongst others and enjoyed other works, but I've never been intimidated by what I would consider genius. Tolkien and Dickens (Umberto Eco and Joseph Conrad just below them) are impressive as hell for a variety of reasons other than simply success, but their work doesn't intimidate me. My issue was that I was equally unimpressed with my own writing as I was by most other successful writing in the world despite people saying how good I was.

The answer is probably the same for you as it was for me as it is for most people considering writing a book (lacking confidence or not) and that is to study the craft, and I break the craft into two parts: Story and Prose. Screenwriting at UCLA honed my understanding of Story more than anything else. I think most people (myself included) have a grasp of Story beaten into them over their lifetimes, but a formal understanding of structure builds confidence. My prose was relatively strong (a way with words) but I was never satisfied. I have always been dissatisfied or unimpressed with the prose of most authors I read or tried to read, and they were published works fully edited, so my standards were hellishly picky. I had a helluva time editing my own work. Hated editing! This was perhaps the hardest nut to crack. Two things finally succeeded. First, screenwriting where I was working on full length stories only 120 pages long! Whoa! That's so much easier to dig into and the writing is more barebones.

The second breakthrough was reading other authors' unfinished works. Whoa! It was so much easier to find all the things I didn't like in other people's unpublished work, and somehow, it was then way easier to identify the things in my own writing that worked and didn't work. When I cracked the nut, I no longer hated editing my writing... I loved it. Making a pretty rock sparkle is more satisfying than throwing it over your shoulder.

So, eventually, I spent 2-3 years casually writing and rewriting a few chapters, adding on, sticking it away for a couple of months, rewriting and adding on—this wasn't a plan, it just happened—while giving them a month or two to breathe before passes. Then, one day, instead of hating it, I stared and thought... that's pretty damned good. Then, I finished Eve of Snows in about 6 months, put it through the wringer with an editor who'd once owned a publishing company and had worked with Piers Anthony, and she loved it. The edits were minimal. So I thought, maybe I'm onto something here...

SO! Plow forward, study the craft, gain confidence. Now is the time to strike, because AI could obliterate the entire industry if you want to make money from this. if you're just having fun, then there's no hurry.

 

[black magic]

It depends on what you call genius? Genius as in writing a masterpiece or genius as in seeing what sells and writing that to makes millions.

Everyone is different and you'll bring a new style to writing. Everyone had different strengths. Try to focus on you and not on those that have come before you otherwise it takes all the fun out of writing. Don't write to compete with others, don't write what you think will sell because you'll likely be wrong. Write the kind of story you'd want to read.

 

[Karlin]

...

Your issue isn't exactly what mine was, but it's probably on the same side of the coin (the flipside being people who think they're the greatest ever, mostly without evidence). There are zero novels/writers out there that I am in awe of. I love LoTR, ASoIaF, The Name of the Rose, Heart of Darkness, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, amongst others and enjoyed other works, but I've never been intimidated by what I would consider genius. Tolkien and Dickens (Umberto Eco and Joseph Conrad just below them) are impressive as hell for a variety of reasons other than simply success, but their work doesn't intimidate me. My issue was that I was equally unimpressed with my own writing as I was by most other successful writing in the world despite people saying how good I was.

I am impressed by Joseph Conrad, partly because English was not his native language. In "awe"? I wouldn't go that far.

 

[Saigonnus]

Writers write; and read. How do writer's improve? We write, even if it's just for our own benefit, like I do. We also improve through reading someone else's work and emulating something we find attractive about their voice, or their style of writing. There is likely always going to be someone better than us, it's a fact of life for people of all stripes: writers or otherwise. All we can do is keep moving forward, write, and read, and improve, and set goals; even if only personal goals, and try not to feel discouraged.

*Pat on the back* You're good enough.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

"In awe," I suppose, would have to be translated to "intimidated by" for purposes of this conversation, which for me is no one.

Conrad's use of prose is impressive, in particluar as he was't a native English speaker, as you mentioned. I don't love all of his novels, but his writing from what I recall, well, his prose was always impressive. Umberto Eco's collab with William Weaver translated from Italian was also impressive. Eco's Name of the Rose is one of the few books I can get lost in, it's medieval setting sucking me in a bit like Tolkien's Middle Earth on a smaller scale.

On a pure prose level, Faulkner is one of my favorites. I also left out Cormac McCarthy, who I would read more of if I took the time to read these days. I like his style, but I spend all my reading time writing.

I am impressed by Joseph Conrad, partly because English was not his native language. In "awe"? I wouldn't go that far.

 

[Karlin]

"In awe," I suppose, would have to be translated to "intimidated by" for purposes of this conversation, which for me is no one.

Conrad's use of prose is impressive, in particluar as he was't a native English speaker, as you mentioned. I don't love all of his novels, but his writing from what I recall, well, his prose was always impressive. Umberto Eco's collab with William Weaver translated from Italian was also impressive. Eco's Name of the Rose is one of the few books I can get lost in, it's medieval setting sucking me in a bit like Tolkien's Middle Earth on a smaller scale.

On a pure prose level, Faulkner is one of my favorites. I also left out Cormac McCarthy, who I would read more of if I took the time to read these days. I like his style, but I spend all my reading time writing.

intimidated? never!

There's the Hassidic tale of Reb. Zusha, in which he explains: "When I pass from this world and appear before the Heavenly Tribunal, they won't ask me, 'Zusha, why weren't you as wise as Moses or as kind as Abraham,' rather, they will ask me, 'Zusha, why weren't you Zusha?' "

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

Hi Anna. Not every scientist needs to win a Nobel Prize. Just stick with it, and improve over time. I usually start out with self doubts (and often end with them too). What I do is write a chapter or two, then pass to a few friends or relatives for some initial feedback. All I am looking for is "hey that sounds interesting" or better yet "what happens next?", and I gain enough self confidence to continue

Thank you. I don't think I could follow through with showing some chapter to friends or family - at least early in the process. But I've been thinking about joining a writers' group to get some feedback (it would be difficult on here because I write in German).

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

I try not to compare myself to anyone when writing. but try to focus on the story I want to write. Also it's just futile to compare your rough draft to someone's final draft. It can take anywhere between 6 and 12, maybe even more drafts to have a good novel. Also a lot of those nice touches, quotable lines and polished prose, tends to come in one of the latest drafts, if not the final draft. The work will always look a little unpolished until you're close to the end. A better way to look at the genius of others is write down your favourite lines by them, and look at what elements you'd like to emulate and keep notes on it, because it might be useful when you polish your work in a later draft.

So, in short, the rough draft is typically a mess. The second draft is less of a mess but still very rough. The third, fourth and fifth drafts typically show gradual improvement, and after, probably the 6th or 7th, you start seeing a more polished product. Now, by draft, I mean any time you make changes to your entire manuscript. Not every change is a major revision. Major revision typically just comes with the second, and every revision/sweep is increasingly minor.

Thank you, K. Hudson. I like your idea of writing down my favourite lines by those I admire, in order to understand and emulate what is so captivating about them. And patience to wait until the final draft.

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

Fifty Shades is perhaps the ultimate piece of shit that somehow grew wings. It is both the great purveyor of hope and the great squasher of dreams. On the one hand, the writing is at an adolescent level (and that might be generous) and it sold millions of copies. On the other hand, thousands of authors are producing better work and going broke.

The simple answer is to push forward or quit. There is an old saying that "writers write" but this isn't necessarily true either. Sometimes, writers go live their lives and come back to writing more prepared to produce quality work.

In this modern world, there is simply no reason not to go for it. The amount of resources cheap or free and the self publishing world change everything. I wish I had that situation when I was in my teens and twenties!

Your issue isn't exactly what mine was, but it's probably on the same side of the coin (the flipside being people who think they're the greatest ever, mostly without evidence). There are zero novels/writers out there that I am in awe of. I love LoTR, ASoIaF, The Name of the Rose, Heart of Darkness, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, amongst others and enjoyed other works, but I've never been intimidated by what I would consider genius. Tolkien and Dickens (Umberto Eco and Joseph Conrad just below them) are impressive as hell for a variety of reasons other than simply success, but their work doesn't intimidate me. My issue was that I was equally unimpressed with my own writing as I was by most other successful writing in the world despite people saying how good I was.

The answer is probably the same for you as it was for me as it is for most people considering writing a book (lacking confidence or not) and that is to study the craft, and I break the craft into two parts: Story and Prose. Screenwriting at UCLA honed my understanding of Story more than anything else. I think most people (myself included) have a grasp of Story beaten into them over their lifetimes, but a formal understanding of structure builds confidence. My prose was relatively strong (a way with words) but I was never satisfied. I have always been dissatisfied or unimpressed with the prose of most authors I read or tried to read, and they were published works fully edited, so my standards were hellishly picky. I had a helluva time editing my own work. Hated editing! This was perhaps the hardest nut to crack. Two things finally succeeded. First, screenwriting where I was working on full length stories only 120 pages long! Whoa! That's so much easier to dig into and the writing is more barebones.

The second breakthrough was reading other authors' unfinished works. Whoa! It was so much easier to find all the things I didn't like in other people's unpublished work, and somehow, it was then way easier to identify the things in my own writing that worked and didn't work. When I cracked the nut, I no longer hated editing my writing... I loved it. Making a pretty rock sparkle is more satisfying than throwing it over your shoulder.

So, eventually, I spent 2-3 years casually writing and rewriting a few chapters, adding on, sticking it away for a couple of months, rewriting and adding on—this wasn't a plan, it just happened—while giving them a month or two to breathe before passes. Then, one day, instead of hating it, I stared and thought... that's pretty damned good. Then, I finished Eve of Snows in about 6 months, put it through the wringer with an editor who'd once owned a publishing company and had worked with Piers Anthony, and she loved it. The edits were minimal. So I thought, maybe I'm onto something here...

SO! Plow forward, study the craft, gain confidence. Now is the time to strike, because AI could obliterate the entire industry if you want to make money from this. if you're just having fun, then there's no hurry.Thank you, also for describing your own writing process - and its happy end. And yes, come to think of it, I also more strongly believe in my prose than I believe in my capacity to tell a story. I mean, in real life I'm not bad at telling stories, but I use a lot of humour, gestures, tone. Things that don't translate onto paper.

Fifty Shades is perhaps the ultimate piece of shit that somehow grew wings. It is both the great purveyor of hope and the great squasher of dreams. On the one hand, the writing is at an adolescent level (and that might be generous) and it sold millions of copies. On the other hand, thousands of authors are producing better work and going broke.

The simple answer is to push forward or quit. There is an old saying that "writers write" but this isn't necessarily true either. Sometimes, writers go live their lives and come back to writing more prepared to produce quality work.

In this modern world, there is simply no reason not to go for it. The amount of resources cheap or free and the self publishing world change everything. I wish I had that situation when I was in my teens and twenties!

Your issue isn't exactly what mine was, but it's probably on the same side of the coin (the flipside being people who think they're the greatest ever, mostly without evidence). There are zero novels/writers out there that I am in awe of. I love LoTR, ASoIaF, The Name of the Rose, Heart of Darkness, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, amongst others and enjoyed other works, but I've never been intimidated by what I would consider genius. Tolkien and Dickens (Umberto Eco and Joseph Conrad just below them) are impressive as hell for a variety of reasons other than simply success, but their work doesn't intimidate me. My issue was that I was equally unimpressed with my own writing as I was by most other successful writing in the world despite people saying how good I was.

The answer is probably the same for you as it was for me as it is for most people considering writing a book (lacking confidence or not) and that is to study the craft, and I break the craft into two parts: Story and Prose. Screenwriting at UCLA honed my understanding of Story more than anything else. I think most people (myself included) have a grasp of Story beaten into them over their lifetimes, but a formal understanding of structure builds confidence. My prose was relatively strong (a way with words) but I was never satisfied. I have always been dissatisfied or unimpressed with the prose of most authors I read or tried to read, and they were published works fully edited, so my standards were hellishly picky. I had a helluva time editing my own work. Hated editing! This was perhaps the hardest nut to crack. Two things finally succeeded. First, screenwriting where I was working on full length stories only 120 pages long! Whoa! That's so much easier to dig into and the writing is more barebones.

The second breakthrough was reading other authors' unfinished works. Whoa! It was so much easier to find all the things I didn't like in other people's unpublished work, and somehow, it was then way easier to identify the things in my own writing that worked and didn't work. When I cracked the nut, I no longer hated editing my writing... I loved it. Making a pretty rock sparkle is more satisfying than throwing it over your shoulder.

So, eventually, I spent 2-3 years casually writing and rewriting a few chapters, adding on, sticking it away for a couple of months, rewriting and adding on—this wasn't a plan, it just happened—while giving them a month or two to breathe before passes. Then, one day, instead of hating it, I stared and thought... that's pretty damned good. Then, I finished Eve of Snows in about 6 months, put it through the wringer with an editor who'd once owned a publishing company and had worked with Piers Anthony, and she loved it. The edits were minimal. So I thought, maybe I'm onto something here...

SO! Plow forward, study the craft, gain confidence. Now is the time to strike, because AI could obliterate the entire industry if you want to make money from this. if you're just having fun, then there's no hurry.

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

Fifty Shades is perhaps the ultimate piece of shit that somehow grew wings. It is both the great purveyor of hope and the great squasher of dreams. On the one hand, the writing is at an adolescent level (and that might be generous) and it sold millions of copies. On the other hand, thousands of authors are producing better work and going broke.

The simple answer is to push forward or quit. There is an old saying that "writers write" but this isn't necessarily true either. Sometimes, writers go live their lives and come back to writing more prepared to produce quality work.

In this modern world, there is simply no reason not to go for it. The amount of resources cheap or free and the self publishing world change everything. I wish I had that situation when I was in my teens and twenties!

Your issue isn't exactly what mine was, but it's probably on the same side of the coin (the flipside being people who think they're the greatest ever, mostly without evidence). There are zero novels/writers out there that I am in awe of. I love LoTR, ASoIaF, The Name of the Rose, Heart of Darkness, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, amongst others and enjoyed other works, but I've never been intimidated by what I would consider genius. Tolkien and Dickens (Umberto Eco and Joseph Conrad just below them) are impressive as hell for a variety of reasons other than simply success, but their work doesn't intimidate me. My issue was that I was equally unimpressed with my own writing as I was by most other successful writing in the world despite people saying how good I was.

The answer is probably the same for you as it was for me as it is for most people considering writing a book (lacking confidence or not) and that is to study the craft, and I break the craft into two parts: Story and Prose. Screenwriting at UCLA honed my understanding of Story more than anything else. I think most people (myself included) have a grasp of Story beaten into them over their lifetimes, but a formal understanding of structure builds confidence. My prose was relatively strong (a way with words) but I was never satisfied. I have always been dissatisfied or unimpressed with the prose of most authors I read or tried to read, and they were published works fully edited, so my standards were hellishly picky. I had a helluva time editing my own work. Hated editing! This was perhaps the hardest nut to crack. Two things finally succeeded. First, screenwriting where I was working on full length stories only 120 pages long! Whoa! That's so much easier to dig into and the writing is more barebones.

The second breakthrough was reading other authors' unfinished works. Whoa! It was so much easier to find all the things I didn't like in other people's unpublished work, and somehow, it was then way easier to identify the things in my own writing that worked and didn't work. When I cracked the nut, I no longer hated editing my writing... I loved it. Making a pretty rock sparkle is more satisfying than throwing it over your shoulder.

So, eventually, I spent 2-3 years casually writing and rewriting a few chapters, adding on, sticking it away for a couple of months, rewriting and adding on—this wasn't a plan, it just happened—while giving them a month or two to breathe before passes. Then, one day, instead of hating it, I stared and thought... that's pretty damned good. Then, I finished Eve of Snows in about 6 months, put it through the wringer with an editor who'd once owned a publishing company and had worked with Piers Anthony, and she loved it. The edits were minimal. So I thought, maybe I'm onto something here...

SO! Plow forward, study the craft, gain confidence. Now is the time to strike, because AI could obliterate the entire industry if you want to make money from this. if you're just having fun, then there's no hurry.

Thank you for describing your own writing process and timeline - and congratulations on your successful publications.
Yes, the craft. It comes down to that. I guess I kind of hold on to the idea that a writer is born, that writing is pure "talent" that can't be learned. Even if I know, technically, that mastering anything has to do with learning, persistence and practice. Need to get past this kind of genius thinking. I would really love to be able to see someones unfinished work and then later the finished version. I guess that would put everything a bit into perspective.
It's funny that you mention Fifty Shades, because reading this book (couldn't finish it) I actually thought "well if someone dares to publish THAT - and is even making money from it - then there's no reason for me not to write". So it was a huge inspiration in the sense of, if she can do it so can I. But it was also confusing because here I was, thinking one had to be able to actually write well in order to get published.

 

[Incanus]

I experienced this feeling a lot when I was first starting out. I was thoroughly disappointed in my early attempts at writing--to the point where I thought I just didn't have what it takes. I would try working on something for a few months or so, and then pretty much hate the results. For reasons I don't understand very well, I would try it all over again years later, with the same result. Again, and again, that's how it went.

Somewhere along the way, I got a little better. I wrote a little item that wasn't completely terrible, and even had a few good things. I kept on it from that point on.

I try to keep a fairly steady diet of my favorite writing, so as to keep a kind of goal in mind, to see the possibilities to strive for.

And, I also read items I don't care for very much from time to time, so I can say to myself, "My stuff can't be too much worse than this, right?"

 

[pmmg]

I have an easy solution to this. I am not a reader. Reading for me always feels like homework. I have done a lot of homework, and read a lot of stuff, but I dont get star struck or awed. Chances are, while all those earlier artists were writing their books. They were probably wrestling with notions of not being worthy themselves. I can appreciate many of them, but I have my own stuff to write, and its not getting written unless I write it. So...I dont leave much time to give a lot of attention to what others are doing.

I've spent years trying to get good at this craft. If you are looking to up your game and get good as well, I advise finding others who are looking for reviews or critiques and reviewing the crap out of other people's stuff. There is no faster path to improvement than that. MS does not offer a lot of that but it does come up every few days or so. But nothing like digging in and trying to explain to others how writing is improved. You cant do it without become better yourself.

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

It depends on what you call genius? Genius as in writing a masterpiece or genius as in seeing what sells and writing that to makes millions.

Everyone is different and you'll bring a new style to writing. Everyone had different strengths. Try to focus on you and not on those that have come before you otherwise it takes all the fun out of writing. Don't write to compete with others, don't write what you think will sell because you'll likely be wrong. Write the kind of story you'd want to read.

Thank you, black magic. I meant genius as in "written so good that I feel like my life is changed forever by just having witnessed this work of art". I definitely write for fun and self-publishing a book for a small audience is probably what I'm aiming for. But it seems I'm very capable of building imaginary pressure without any actual external pressure

 

[CupofJoe]

You never know what other writers have read and wish they had written.

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

I have an easy solution to this. I am not a reader. Reading for me always feels like homework. I have done a lot of homework, and read a lot of stuff, but I dont get star struck or awed. Chances are, while all those earlier artists were writing their books. They were probably wrestling with notions of not being worthy themselves. I can appreciate many of them, but I have my own stuff to write, and its not getting written unless I write it. So...I dont leave much time to give a lot of attention to what others are doing.

I've spent years trying to get good at this craft. If you are looking to up your game and get good as well, I advise finding others who are looking for reviews or critiques and reviewing the crap out of other people's stuff. There is no faster path to improvement than that. MS does not offer a lot of that but it does come up every few days or so. But nothing like digging in and trying to explain to others how writing is improved. You cant do it without become better yourself.

Thank you pmmg - I guess I would really benefit from meeting up with people who aspire to write their own books as well. I am happy to hear you don't read other peoples books - to read as much as possible is a common advice for writers but I might want to tone this down for a while.

 

[AnnaGoeldi]

I experienced this feeling a lot when I was first starting out. I was thoroughly disappointed in my early attempts at writing--to the point where I thought I just didn't have what it takes. I would try working on something for a few months or so, and then pretty much hate the results. For reasons I don't understand very well, I would try it all over again years later, with the same result. Again, and again, that's how it went.

Somewhere along the way, I got a little better. I wrote a little item that wasn't completely terrible, and even had a few good things. I kept on it from that point on.

I try to keep a fairly steady diet of my favorite writing, so as to keep a kind of goal in mind, to see the possibilities to strive for.

And, I also read items I don't care for very much from time to time, so I can say to myself, "My stuff can't be too much worse than this, right?"

Thank you <3 am happy to hear you can push thorugh this.

 

[Prince of Spires]

It has already been mentioned, but don't compare your first draft to someones final draft. Some writers write perfect first drafts, but most of us have to rewrite stuff. Fix awkward sentences, cut out bad plotlines that went no where. Polish the prose. For my current project, between the first and last draft, I added something like 25k words, I added and removed complete chapters. I don't think there's a single sentence in there where not at least 1 word changed. All just to improve it. So don't be afraid and write.

However, the other important thing is, which is often forgotten, that no one is born an exceptional writer. Writing is a skill, and like all skills, you need to practice to get better. We (as in the world in general) seems to think that to write the perfect novel, all we need to do is to sit down and type. After all, we have learned how to write in school. We have read stories. We tell stories to our friends every day (even just "how was your day" counts as a story). It shouldn't take practice to write a novel.

This is completely false. Writing is probably best compared to playing a musical instrument. When you start learning to play the piano, no one expects you to play at concert level immediately. We understand that it takes years of dedicated practice to become a concert level piano player. And when two players sit down to play something, then we can tell within a minute which one has started playing half a year ago and is an enthousiastic amateur, and which one has been studying and practicing music for 20 years. The same goes for writing.

Now, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't write because that would mean starting 20 years ago. Rather the opposite. Start writing stories, and improve as you go. Expect your first few stories to be terrible, and accept that. There is nothing wrong with it. An often given guideline is that the first 500.000 words you write will be terrible. Now, that isn't always true, but it does give you an idea of how much work the "geniuses" put in before becoming that genius.

One of the best examples of this I've read is the Book of Lost Tales, by Tolkien. It contains the early notes and short stories and scribbles from Tolkien. Now, I love his work. But these tales are terrible. Yes, you can see some of the ideas that later developed into the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. But the prose is just bad. However, he kept practicing and improving, and got to the point where he's now considered a genius.