What Makes A Great Writer?

What makes a great writer?

We all have thoughts floating in our head. Feelings, sentiments, emotions, theories, observations.... all of them floating in our mind. Some obvious to the mind's eye. Others not so obvious. Because some of them are abstract, unsaid, and exist more as an essence than as solid thoughts. A great writer is able to summon all these thoughts, coax and pry them out of the hidden and uncharted recesses of his mind, cajole them into taking a tangible shape, and then express them on paper in the form of words. Express them as words so lucidly and soulfully, that their essence is not lost even when what he writes is translated.

Milan Kundera is one such great writer.