Wikipedia says ‘Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of an artist.’

This is writing. It is a craft that is initially learned, but develops through experience and practice.

Let’s use the analogy of driving a car. When we learn to drive we are aware of every move we make. We carefully depress the accelerator. Even more carefully we press the brake. We are aware of mirrors and signalling and speed limits and the proximity of other cars on the road. We are totally concentrated on driving this hunk of metal.

Six months later, none of those fundamentals cross our mind. The actions and awareness are programmed in so securely that we hold conversations or sing along or plan the details of our day while we drive. Automatically we are aware of the children on the pavement who might step into the road, the hazardous driving of the car in front, a patch of ice ahead. The subconscious takes control and generally manages it all without us having to think about it.

Creative writing is the same. When we begin we are so caught up in the words that often we will struggle to organise the thoughts that go with them. Eventually you will pass through this apprentice phase to a point where the words come naturally and you can concentrate on the who, what, when, where and why of your writing.

Sadly there is no magic turning point. You don’t suddenly become qualified. It’s more of an epiphany, suddenly you realise that the words flow effortlessly and you are thinking more about what you are writing rather than the process of writing.

You will pause while writing, but you will find it is because you know you need to find the right word or phrase. You will pause because you are playing through the scene in your head before you commit it to paper. But at his point you are well on your way, I’m sure Dickens, Asimov, Rowling, et al, all paused to grasp the right word.

Thus, the artisan is in this process of becoming the master. You have the fundamentals, now you need to hone your craft so that creative writing becomes second nature. It’s worth getting there.