"Talent doesn’t exist." Really?

Jacques once said, “Talent doesn’t exist."

Sorry, Mr Brel, I don’t agree.

Every day I see the stark difference between those who work on their writing - screenplays, plays and/or novels - and who have talent, and those who work just as hard but don’t.

Hard work alone does not create talent.

Conversely, talent without learning, work, curiosity and openness of mind is nothing more than an unfulfilled promise, an untapped possibility.

So why do I keep reading that talent is a myth?

Because it’s a convenient line. It fuels the training industry, which thrives on the idea that with the right method, anything is possible. It reassures, while at the same time piling on the guilt: if you don’t succeed, it’s because you haven’t worked hard enough.

But beyond this marketing pitch, there’s a deeper confusion.

It’s the underlying idea that equates talent with creation. That makes people believe recognition and/or fulfilment necessarily come through artistic creativity. Yet there are a thousand different talents: organising, listening, analysing, leading, structuring, advising, teaching, connecting people, solving a technical problem…

What matters is to find your talent. Then to tame it, work on it, experiment with it, expand it. That’s what allows you to find “your place”.

Talent isn’t necessarily where we fantasise it to be. It’s where we feel the flow. One must learn to listen to oneself without giving in to the siren call of an ego (bad) trip. (I have, in fact, come across artists without talent.)

Recognising one’s talent is not always easy. It requires lucidity.

And the environment does not always allow for its discovery or acceptance. Growing a talent in the wrong environment is not simple. Sometimes it’s even impossible – and that is not the fault of the talented person.

And then there are people who are talented, but mistake the difficulty of the work for a lack of talent. They believe the first draft should be the last, as proof of talent (spoiler: it isn’t).

So they give up, or endlessly postpone the work, and thus remain in a comfortable fantasy, avoiding any real confrontation with reality, and work.

Because yes, you can be talented without being a genius. Between talented and talentless lies an entire spectrum. Between black and white there’s a whole range of grey.

And I have also seen excellent screenplays fail to find producers, while mediocre ones were turned into films.

In short, life is neither simple, nor fair.

As usual.

But it does become much simpler once you accept your talent, whatever it may be.

An Oscar prize for writing