A loved one was born
with a talent for storytelling,
for writing.
He’s older than I am
and he’s viewed as
‘THE writer’
in our extended family.
He writes,
on average,
a short story every three months.
(He has to be ‘inspired’
to write…anything.)
I wasn’t born with that talent
but I had ideas
and I loved to write.
I would write every day
in my secret diary as a child.
Then I wrote for a couple newspapers
and, after that, blogs.
I would inhale writing craft books.
I would seek feedback
on my writing.
I had the goal to improve
with every work.
(150 published stories later,
I STILL have that goal
and I STILL meet it
with every story I write.)
Now, my skills at writing
have far surpassed
my ‘writer’ loved one’s.
And his ‘talent’ isn’t enough
to land him a publishing deal.
It hasn’t advanced much
past the talent level
he was born with.
“You’re born
with talent.
You earn
a skill.
I don’t think
there are many places
where talent is
the key driver of success.”
Having talent is a beginning.
It is not the end
and it is certainly not enough
to guarantee success.
Work on the skills
that surround that talent.