A big ARHtistic License thank you to Ryan Lanz for this article. Skill vs. Talent–Which do you have? first appeared on Lanz’s website, A Writer’s Path.
- tal·ent [tal-uhnt] noun: a special natural ability or aptitude.
- skill [skil] noun: the ability, coming from one’s knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well.
What if you don’t have natural talent? Does that mean you may as well give up?
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It’s not quite the chicken or the egg debate, but it’s up there. I’ve heard people go in circles about which comes first and which is necessary. At what combination of both does one continue the grind and attempt at success? I’d be surprised if you haven’t asked yourself that question. It’s a part of being human.
What does each really mean?
This comes from the university of my opinion, but I would describe talent as the natural ability that needs little to no refinement, and skill is the unnatural ability that you have to develop. For those of us who’ve played sports (myself excluded), I’m sure you’ve all encountered someone who strides onto the field and makes it all look so darn effortless.
This person hardly shows up to practice, and you have a fairly good idea that it took hardly any effort to accomplish. Same with the person who aced every test in college with little preparation, leaving you in study hall time after time with a bucket of coffee. You must have missed at least three parties because you had to cram for the Calculus exam, right?
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