That's a really interesting observation, and it has merit.

I think, though, when I was growing up, little girls wanted to be ballerinas and boys wanted to be cowboys. Or something like that.

This craze where everybody wants to be a writer has more to do with wanting the rewards of writing than with actually wanting to write.

When people struggle to write and ask questions like "where to you get your ideas" "How do you get rid of writers' block?" they are not writers.

We can all learn basic literacy, but writing is a talent. You either have it or you don't. We can all learn to draw, but to draw like a master is a talent. And what is happening here is that I, for one, am getting confused about what exactly people think writing is and what they want from it.

So many think that because they have some form of basic literacy, it is the same thing that a world famous writer like James Patterson does. It's not.

And I guess when people tell me that they want to write, I immediately think James Patterson - not the sort of writing that is more social networking than something that can be submitted to a professional publication.