Re: Writing in an innate talent

[Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM>]

Arlen P. Walker said:
>That sort of thing was covered by the Hemmingway quote. "Talent" or aptitude or
>genius (whatever word you choose to describe the unfair advantage one has been
>born with) allows you to learn the skills faster. Yes, you *could* have been a
>football player, had you wanted to pay the price. For those not already gifted
>with physical talent this price includes lots of training, many hours spent
>daily in physical skills training. There are plenty of histories of football
>players to back this up (Hall-of-Famer Ray Berry comes to mind as one).

Well, I don't follow football history, but if you say that Ray Berry
got into the Hall of Fame without ever having any training at all,
I suppose I'll believe you.  But most football players are not
Hall-of-Famers, and most Hall-of-Famers studied football intensively,
starting in childhood, and invested an enormous amount of time in
the game.

I've known a lot of athletes.  Judging from the amount of time they
spent in training, athletics didn't "come naturally" to them at all,
though their thousands of hours of childhood effort obviously had
helped them quite a bit.

Still, people who mostly saw the games, and not the practices, thought
that these athletes had a wonderful "talent," and that their performances
were "natural" as all get-out.

Oh, well, it's certainly remunerative to live in a society that thinks
that connect-the-dots writing requires some kind of special gift.

        -- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon * Writer * robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (408) 321-8771
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