Talent Vs Hard Work: How To Be Successful Writer
Our society exalts talent. A talent tends to be seen as an inherit ability of the individual. When we see an artist at work, we often have an impression that he/she was born to do this thing. And we often say things like “That singer is so talented” to express the highest praise for someone's ability that we admire.
However, is it really a talent that determines your success or failure in a certain field? Is there a reason to start practicing a thing for which, as others say, you are not talented enough? One of the skills that evokes most questions of this kind is writing.
There's also an ongoing debate between the importance of talent vs. hard work and dedication. What is more important for subsequently transforming you into a successful writer? Our resume writers service shares the thoughts on this debate.
Talent or hard work: What is more important for success in life?
People often ask themselves: can a naturally gifted, talented person achieve success in their profession thanks to talent alone? This question is even more pressing for creative people like photographers, writers, web designers, musicians, dancers, artists and more. It is considered that to make it in a creative industry, innate talent is a must. But in fact, reality is more complicated.
Not all famous people were talented from the early childhood. In many cases, they reached success by trial and error. For example, Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan failed a lot before they achieved their goals. But since they were hardworking people, they became successful people in their respective industries, and they serve as role models to the entire world.
Natural talent is nothing without persistence
People are often fascinated by the idea of pure talent that will lead you to a tremendous success. Indeed, innate ability is important, but not everyone with a talent for something becomes a successful person. You need to develop these natural talents through hard work, practice regularly and grow better year by year.
You've probably met someone who has a magical voice or a talent for painting, but chose not to develop these natural abilities to pursue an artistic career. Without focused work, talent fails. Both talent and hard work are equally important. Many famous writers admitted that it's a strong work ethic that helped them grow their talent and finally reach that finish line.
Dedicated work helps you develop new talents
If you are a gifted person, it only means that acquiring skills and knowledge in your field will take you less time and effort. Say, if you're a naturally intelligent person, you'll pass IQ tests and get good grades with ease. Yet, through working hard, you can achieve great results as well, with the only difference that each task will probably take you longer.
Moreover, a great byproduct of focused and persistent work is that it helps you hone your natural skills and develop new abilities. If you dream of becoming a famous painter but you aren't hugely talented, it's no reason to put your dreams aside. If you practice and learn more about fine arts, you can actually develop that important talent. Or, you might discover similar career options – such as gallery manager who ensures business grows, an art director, or other.
If you don't have the natural ability but are passionate, keep trying anyway
When discussing the hard work talent, it's hardly possible to say that either makes all the difference. Of course, if you have a talent for something and work hard to develop yourself every day, you'll inevitably achieve success at one point. But if you are fascinated about, say, writing, but people keep saying it's not your cup of tea, don't give it up.
If you take some training and practice writing every day, you'll see results for sure. Maybe, they won't be as brilliant as those of someone who has an innate ability to write. But still, you will see the progress and that progress will inspire you to keep going. You can later find out that writing a novel doesn't seem exciting any longer, but you can tell great short stories, so you can post them in a blog and monetize it. Whether you consider yourself talented or not, persistent work is essential to achieve tangible results.
The nature of writing
Writing – especially creative writing – is an exhausting process. You need to create the entire thing out of your head, and no one can guarantee that the result will satisfy you (here are some professional tips for beginning novelist to ease the process: https://resumeperk.com/blog/how-to-start-your-first-novel-15-winning-tips). Since the process is stressful, many writers are waiting for inspiration to get started. However, this is definitely a way to nowhere.
Even if you possess a natural ability for writing, it will take you anywhere if you'll be solely reliant on the talent and inspiration only. However, only those devoting hours of hard work to writing every day usually achieve writing success. It's more about stamina and a clear goal of becoming a writer and willingness to work for it.
So, do you really need talent to make it as a writer? Yes, it's good if you have it. It's not a big problem, though, if you don't. Because most published writers have got there with only some talent and lots of hard work.
What does it take to become a successful writer?
- Read a lot
All successful writers are keen readers. It's easy to explain as it's only through reading you learn the writing styles of great authors, their unique tricks, and expand your vocabulary. In other words, you won't be able to create something substantial unless you've read a plenty of others' work.
Reading a lot also works for web writers. In addition to learning classical and modern literature, follow the most popular bloggers in your niche to learn how they capture the attention of their audience and their writing style. - Practice every day
Perfection comes from practice. All the outstanding sportspeople and artists spend hours every day practicing. There's only one way to succeed as a writer: practice every day, learn from your own mistakes, and practice again. Even if what your write isn't any good so far, remember: the more your write, the faster your writing improves over time.
Have you heard about the 10.000 hour rule? To perfectly master any skill, you need to spend 10.000 hours practicing it. It takes almost 5 years of full-time work. So, don't waste the precious time and spend a few hours every day writing if you are really determined to be good at it. - Get the feedback
Mastering your writing skills shouldn't be a single-handed journey. Without the regular quality feedback you'll find it difficult to constantly advance your writing. So, spread your first copy around the internet and collect other people's opinion.
Where to get feedback? Join an online writing forum, an offline class, hire a professional editor, or approach the writer/blogger you admire and ask for their comments. A constant feedback, both positive and negative, will not only help you develop your writing skills faster, but also will help you stay on track. - Develop your self-belief
Although you might not need a huge talent to get started, you do need a courage and confidence. Without these two ingredients, you'll unlikely advance your writing to the master's level. Or, if you manage to, you'll be too shy to promote yourself.
Self-promotion is crucial in the era of internet. If you aren't aggressive and persistent enough, your name will get lost in the midst of other names of aspiring writers.
So, what contributes to your self-belief?- Knowing that you have something to say. In other words, understanding of your value as a writer comes from a genuine understanding that you have something to say that no one else can. Your unique experience cannot be explained by any other individual.
- Confidence in your professionalism. As your writing skills continue to develop, you'll feel more confident which will reflect on your writing and professional life in general.
- Complete your writing projects
How many of us have left the novel, a short story or post halfway just because we realize it wasn't going to become ‘a next big thing'? To achieve writing success, you'll have to give up this habit. In this case, perfectionism isn't helping but only slows down your writing progress.
Even if the piece you are working on isn't as good as you expected, finish it. Complete the book and get feedback to correct your mistakes and do things better the next time. - Keep going
Whatever happens during your writing career, don't stop halfway. It can take you years before you get at least little recognition. On the contrary, your first or second novel can surprisingly catapult you into writing stardom. Both situations have their pitfalls. It is important not to lose motivation and drive when things aren't going well, and it's even more important not to lose your head when you're successful. Whatever happens, you need to learn from the past mistakes and just keep going.
The bottom line
As the history shows, it's not that important to have a congenial writing ability to achieve writing success. And, when it comes to non-fiction writing, such as white paper writing, content writing or PhD writing (learn more expert tips on how to handle PhD level writing here: https://resumeperk.com/blog/helpful-pieces-of-advice-for-phd-student-writers), everyone can learn to put their thoughts on paper.
On seeing another New York Times best-selling author or a winner of a Nobel Prize in literature, we always put it down to their writing talent, as we don't see the years of hard work that eventually led to the writing success. So, a writing talent is great. It will help you a lot as you learn how to write and gives you a head start. But, in the end, it's dedication, motivation and years of hard work that make a successful writer. This rule works for all writing jobs, from creative writers to industry specific writers and blog post writers.
Looking for a new writing job?
It's high time you updated your old resume to keep it up-to-dated with the latest job application trends and demands of the market. Despite the common misconception, writing a resume requires not only strong writing skills, but also marketing skills, HR expertise and understanding the current labor market. A resume writer possesses all of the above skills and that's why professionally written resumes usually get more interview calls.
Our company offers a wide range of resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn writing services for professionals of all industries. Learn more about types of services offered and feel free to contact us anytime – we're open 24/7!
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