Talented people have the misfortune of not acquiring their ability through work, and so their confidence is paper thin. They turn to others to learn to improve their innate ability. But the old adage is often true: Those who can, do. Those who can’t do, teach.
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Writers with natural talent seek out teachers who never made it as authors themselves but who believe they understand the perfect formulas for pleasing an audience. People with calculations and story beats but no passion for the work and no palate to detect true quality.
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And therein lies the problem. Storytelling is an art of balancing, and it’s true that these skills can be taught. Even people with talent need to learn basics and refine skills, or can find new inspiration through learning. But the teaching methods don’t line up.
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People with no natural talent need to be reshaped to match a blueprint. They need skills and formulas. They need to be molded by their teachers and spend time as passive vessels first. People with talent can never be passive vessels. They cannot be reshaped without breaking.
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When a teacher with no natural talent tries to shape and mold a student with natural talent, the student ends up breaking because they were already shaped. Teaching a student with natural talent is a process of refining, softening, sharpening, and cultivating. The shape is there
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Our another way, teaching those without talent is like building a housing development. You take one blueprint and apply them to all. Teaching those with talent is like cultivating a unique plant in a garden, one that can be guided as it grows but ultimately must develop itself.
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Too many writers with natural talent break long before they publish their first work because their teachers did not see the shape which already existed. Too many untalented teachers break the plant off at the base trying to force it to be a new shape and make it grow their way.
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This phenomenon is by no means limited to writing. Think about your own talents and where teachers have tried to forcefully shape you. Undo the shaping and remember your own form. Then develop along your own path. Others can provide guidance but we must cultivate ourselves.
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Great thread!
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Thank you, sir.
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