Right on Jay! I consider writing as a part of my eccentricity, an outcome fueled by mood-swings. There was a time I went on a reading spree (I was led to believe that only reading makes one a good writer) which, I soon realized had no end. I also realized that true sense of  writing good gestates out of how observant one is, and how effectively he/she translates those observations into words. So, in nutshell (again this is my personal opinion), I think it is observation (and assimilation) that is a primary factor, knowledge and vocabulary are secondary.