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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

The Creative Gap

I like that. People are so rarely simply good at things. They worked for it. Struggle for it. I've heard of artists who give up everything they own so that they're forced to live off the income they made from their art. Game developers who haven't made it big yet that port other people's games just to get enough money to keep working on their own projects. One of the developers I work with had no programming knowledge two years ago - he's self-taught himself, read books, the works, and is now one of the developers I respect the most.

All that said, this is really hard. I love to write, but I struggle all the time with the knowledge that I'm not as good as I want to be. I'm picky about the writing style of the books I read, but know I'm nowhere near the level of my own expectations. Gotta keep working on it. :)
 
I think talent is a misconception, to begin with.
Talent isn't some special gift, that makes someone just draw/sing/play/write well instantly, talent is the thing that makes those people continue practising even when they suck AND enjoy it.

It's the sheer volume of practise that translates into skill. Talent is all those hours poured into it.

When i was younger, i used to draw on average 4-5 hours a day, every day. People said i was "talented" although i bet anyone with that amount of practise would get about exactly as good. The "talent" itself was that i didn't get bored, or tired, but enjoyed it. If would be the same if it was an instrument i practised on. However, i can't even imagine having to practise that much on an instrument...

About 15 years ago, adult life happened and i had no time to draw 4 hours a day. I fell behind the development curve... So i haven't gotten much better since then, which is kinda sad.

So in the end, i think , if you enjoy something, do it! The amount of time spent practising, will get you better, like it or not.
 
@Lex You reminded me of this poster and quote, which are one of my favorites:

View attachment ath07.deviantart.net_fs70_PRE_i_2010_297_f_a_every_child_is____by_monographic_d31cv0v.png

I feel like Star Army is the same way. Every kid has imaginary play worlds they make characters and stories in. We named our stuffed animals and built crude cities of plastic bricks and wooden blocks, choreographed the social lives and fashion choices of dollhouse residents, and we were the helicopter camera view as the matchbox cars went on a high-speed chase across the bedroom. As roleplayers we hang on to that creativity and nurture it.
 
This I agree with.

I have friends who have outright told me that certain people just have the talent, and certain people don't. It annoys me to no end. Just like when they say "It's better than anything I could do."... Well, of course it is. Drawing, writing or programming things are more like sports than people think. Being good at it requires muscle memory, it requires those movements to be pulled off without even really thinking about them. And the only way to do that is to practice constantly.

You could maybe make a case that certain physical differences in body structure, or a specific type of home life (supportive parents, not having to take care of half a dozen younger siblings, e.t.c.) could make things easier, but if somebody has a great baseball swing, it's still because they spend a lot of time doing similar activities. They follow that art without even knowing it, they aren't just genetically programmed to do it at birth. Hell, I wouldn't consider myself a particularly good artist or anything, but I barely scribbled up until college. Practice is everything.
 
To play devil's advocate here... Some people DO just have incredible amounts of natural talent in certain fields, where they just inherently GET how to do something, or don't put any effort into it, and still do well. That's what talent is, and it's VERY different from having SKILL in a given field. Skill is something you build, and earn, through lots of hard practice and work, and it is a completely standalone thing from talent. All of the talent in the world doesn't guarantee any skill, and skill is what really counts when it comes down to it.
 
Just. Make. Stuff. Talent is aptitude. Some people have a natural aptitude. They still have to practice but they either practice less to achieve the same (which they usually do because they're bored) or if they really knuckle down and practice as much as everybody else they become awesome at a thing -- and if they really push it hard, they become legendary.

I consider Poju legendary. But that's just me.
 
Eh, well, this is kinda what I was talking about. Talent isn't born skill, it's basically just synergy with other skills, in effect...

Take the manga author Tsutomu Nihei, for example; He's pretty renowned for the amazing architecture and sheer scale in his works, because, well, he actually did train as an architect when he was younger. The practice was still there, but it was hidden under a different name. Trust me, I still get jealous of fourteen year old demigod artists too. But there is always a bigger story going on behind the scenes.

It sounds like the most corny and overused advice in the world, but you just have to do what you like. If you know a lot about real world mechanics, physics, biology, or even mythology; Rely on that and you'll not only have way more fun refining the process, but you'll also give a certain edge and appeal to your works that can't just be learned by other artists overnight.
 
Aptitude is just a modifier for practice and without practice, it doesn't make a difference. Doing what you like makes you enjoy practice, ergo you practice more ergo you improve. The cycle repeats. It is literally that simple.
 
As far as talent goes I think of it like this. Talent is a crutch. I myself could be considered talented at maths. However that talent only takes you so far as I found out this past year. I had pretty much done no work to finish my maths A level. I thought further maths would be easy. More of the same, right? WRONG. I found myself 3 months later swamped in terminology and methods I just couldnt understand. In otherwords I had reached the plateau that my talent alone was capable of. Sure I caught up fairly fast. But that in itself meant a lot of late now ghts with only my studybooks and coffee for company.

Good lord was I surprised. I almost messed up my entire plans for the future cuz I relied on my natural ability. I know it sounds strange but I know I would have gotten a better grade if I hadnt had the talent and had to work for it in the first place.
 
As someone who was born with practically no talent besides fixing stuff I know how hard things get when everyone else seems to just excel at everything and your left behind. Truth is that you have to want it.
Athletics weren't my thing as a kid. I didn't want to be weak. I built up my body.
I cleared the Mud Endeavor night run in 44 minutes. That's 5 klicks of deep mud, obstacles, inclines, and straight up running in the dark. After said challenge (and quick shower) I had enough energy to enjoy a rock concert by Stone Grey.
To be clear I have NO natural athletic talents, aptitudes, or whatever whatsoever.

I used to hate learning how to read and write because I sucked at it. Now... Ok, maybe I have a ways to go but still I applied myself and forced myself to learn, but that's not all I learned. I took up RPing because I learned to love writing. It's the love of the game that's kept me in it.

I've always been mechanically inclined but I had to learn everything from experience. Talent was irrelevant.

So what is talent? Whatever anyone wants to call it, its worthless unless you use it. Like Aendri said, "All of the talent in the world doesn't guarantee any skill, and skill is what really counts when it comes down to it."
My talent may help me with my career but it's my skill that I've developed since I was fixing washers in my driveway at 8 years old that have kept me employed. Like not working out muscles, talent without skill is weak.

I love that picture. Its good for whatever you have issues with. Just don't give up.
 
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