What is the difference between skill and talent?

raedmagdon:

thebibliosphere:

A whole lot of hard work and perseverance.

The best way I can explain it, is that talent is something you have a particular natural aptitude for and skill is something you can acquire.

I’ve met plenty of talented and even gifted writers in my time, but a lot of them actually lack the skill to do anything with that talent. So they might churn out a golden phrase and an absolutely soul shaking concept here and there, but when it comes down to putting it on paper, they lack for fortitude to persevere with it.

Talent, after all, can make things feel like second nature, so when something doesn’t flow easily or is not perfect on the first or even second try, they lose interest because well, if they were talented this would be working out for them, but it’s not, so clearly there’s no point in trying. They’re just not Talented Enough.

This is a mindset I labored under for a lot of my teens and my early 20s. I am a talented writer, I was made aware of this by my elders using words like “gifted” and “extraordinary” a lot, right up until I hit college age and suddenly talent counted for absolute shit compared to those able to sit down and methodically work their way through something without having to wait for the lightning strike of genius to occur.

Which is when I had to go back and learn the actual skill of writing, and I’ve been honing it ever since, both through my work and through my personal meanderings in the written word.

By contrast, skill is something that is acquired, it’s a tool that you will spend years fiddling with to get it working the way you want it to. It takes whatever small aptitude you have for something, and provided you keep nurturing it and learning from your experiences, you will eventually improve. You can also, with significant mastery, make it look effortless like talent.

Combining the two should be a goal of any writer, however small or large their inherent talent is. Cause I’m telling you from experience, talent alone does not a success make. I’ve watched careers be built on talent and discovery, only for it to melt away in the wake of realizing they don’t actually know how to sustain what they’re doing. They burn out and fizzle before they really get a chance to shine. While on the other hand, I’ve seen plenty of skilled writers become absolute powerhouses of fiction because they found the formula that works for them, and they’re going at it like a dynamo.

Talent might get you noticed amidst the sea of voices all vying for attention, but it’ll be your skill that keeps you afloat.

Talent’s nice and all, I guess, but skill builds careers.