Some of you might have watched the twofold Republican debate last night and evaluated 15 Republican candidates using qualifications as one of the criteria for judging how they performed in the debate format.
Some jobs and/or occupations require stiff qualifications and requirements while others will gladly offer on the job training. So what qualifies any of us who determine to become writers?
My answer to that question is a big and solid: Nothing. You can be educated to the hilt, understand the language of choice, nuances of grammar, sentence structure, trends in fiction or non, and have achieved honors status in every class you've ever taken on literature and writing, but it won't matter if putting words together effectively for what you want to write doesn't work.
Since we talk mainly fiction here, nothing qualifies you to be able to write a story. Some professionals have little to no formal education while others have accomplished their Masters in the art of writing. Some bestsellers are written with basic storytelling skills but their stories caught fire with readers. Others treat the creation of a story like a lump of clay, mesmerized with shaping and texturing and definition before putting it into the firing kiln, paying more attention to the intent of the words than perhaps the story itself.
Whatever kind of writer you are or have become, the skills which make you one are God-given. Acknowledged or not, He is the Creator with the capital C. He infuses people with all kinds of skills and talents and allows them to develop their natural gifts. He urges and indicates in subtle and pointed ways the paths each one should follow because He's built blessings into people. Whether or not they use them appropriately remains their choice.
So in the end, the only qualification for being or becoming a writer is the direction received from the Divine, the One True God who lavishes His creation with the abilities to create and develop the innate talents He's provided. Without His infusion for a particular talent, all the worldly qualifications won't ultimately matter.
Father, thank you for all you give us, do for us, provide for us, and show us. We're all desperate for you whether we know it or not. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.