If you have a particular skill, such as drawing or playing an instrument, it’s annoying when people assume that you’re naturally extremely talented at it, when you’ve spent years upon years practising to be as good as you are now, amirite?

+199 If you have a particular skill, such as drawing or playing an instrument, it’s annoying when people assume that you’re naturally extremely talented at it, when you’ve spent years upon years practising to be as good as you are now, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Like, maybe there are people who naturally draw or play an instrument or whatever at their current level, but everyone I know spent years perfecting their arts. And even when people are being polite, it can be annoying, like my friend is a brilliant violinist, and people always say “Wow, I wish I could do that just as well” and he always tells them they probably can, if they put as much time and dedication into it as he did. Same with writing – most people who can tell a story well, their first writing was absolute shite, but they spent ages writing and rewriting stuff until it started not being crap, and then started being brilliant.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I can definitely see how that would be annoying, but I have the opposite problem. I'm not being egotistical, but I'm a damn good writer and it's completely natural. Every since I picked up a pen as a child I was writing poems and stories and all types of shit. Anyway, I went to this workshop once and the instructor put me on the spot like, "Tell everyone what kind of exercises to do, and how they can improve their writing." And then I was just like "..." But even though hard work and dedication can payoff, I honestly believe it wouldn't really mean diddly squat if you weren't naturally talented in some way. That's the difference between someone who's good at something and someone who's brilliant.

by Anonymous 12 years ago