Is It Talent or Just Hard Work?

Most artists and authors have heard someone say, “I wish I had your talent.” While there certainly has to be a degree of aptitude involved, I’ve met very few people with “talent” who didn’t put a huge effort into developing their skills and pursuing their dreams, whether art, music, writing–or science, math, medicine.

The desire to pursue a particular course, I believe, is more about how we are coached and inspired in early life. Whatever we’re praised for at age two sticks. When a grade school teacher praises our ability in any subject, we’re inspired. It’s human nature to enjoy being appreciated, but it’s never more important than in those early years when we’re forming our code of life.

Today I’m involved in “creative hard work” as I write the final story that will appear in a short-story anthology, Death Edge 4: 7 Soul-Shrieking Tales of Suspense, which is scheduled for release this month. At the same time, I’m being drawn toward the easel, where I’ve decided to meld two paintings into one. Remember this one?

I painted this unfinished watercolor from a brief glimpse of a woman I saw on a TV program. Something about the expression captured my interest. Without completing it, I set it aside and moved on.

While working on a new abstract acrylic painting, I recalled the woman and the color ways I’d used, located the watercolor, and decided I wanted to merge it with my much larger acrylic piece. I’m eager to paint.

But there’s that story to be written. So now I have to put aside one inspiration and actually conjure the inspiration to write a story which at this point is only a small image in my head. If I had not put in years of hard work learning how to create when the muse is nowhere in sight, this probably wouldn’t happen.

This is why I believe desire and hard work beat talent any day.