I suppose then to sum up this topic for me -
I'm a strong believer that everybody has born natural talent. Just takes some longer to coax it, excellent point you made there about learning from other works. I think that's something inherent to us as humans to see how others do and imitate or create our own version, or to the other extreme realize that is exactly the opposite of what we'd like to be.
Ignorance is bliss for me, I've sampled books but I don't have the patience to study in depth - I've met a great many people who have written some of the most inspirational pieces of lyric I have ever had the pleasure to develop with them, however they couldn't tell and p from a q. Literary aptitude is the smallest part of songwriting. Great things can still come through - even if they can't reach the levels of others - originality is key.
Like many of the songwriters we have here on Songstuff, sometimes the grammar is poor or the spelling is less than stellar yet the message they give is truly heart warming, touching. I suppose coming from my childhood, I have always learned to do things without the aid of books - I learned to play guitar by listening to the radio and watching my older brother play. I learned to write lyrics just by practicing. Though my way has been harder and slower - I feel like I have achieved something that is only mine. The way I play my instrument is unique, no other guitarist has my quirks so far as I have seen. My lyrics are for the most part cliché free and I like to think they are creative (to the best of my personal ability).
The members of Songstuff help me to polish my abilities and for that I am grateful - I learn from others, the vast amount of experience that is here on this forum. In that respect, people who have taken an academic route have no doubt influenced my work via this forum in the past year. I don't take for granted the expertise of other members, I thrive on it.
This is just the way I see things - I like the way you see things too