Hearing an artist I respect referred to as “talented” makes me want to scream. Most of the time, that person’s achievements have more to do with hard work than any accidental, inborn attribute. Talent is great; it just doesn’t really deserve praise until someone does something with it.

Ira Glass posted some excellent videos on storytelling that are applicable to any artistic pursuit. In my favorite of the series, he talks about what he calls “the problem of good taste,” or the ability to identify and appreciate quality in a given medium such that one is inspired to pursue it. Simply put, we have the good taste to recognize fine storytelling (or music, filmmaking, whatever), and so are inspired to do the same. In we go!

But — like Salieri cursing God for giving him the ability to appreciate the genius in Mozart’s work but not the genius to create anything comparable — those of us inspired to create must inevitably suffer through what Ira calls “the gap…” That awkward period (sometimes lasting years) during which we simply “can’t do it right.” What we create kinda sucks, and we know it. After all, our xlnt taste is what got us into the game in the first place. So, like a singer clearing her throat, we must barf up the terrible screenplays, suffer the botched musical performances, etc… This is the gauntlet that all artists have gone through; calling what they ultimately accomplish “talent” is an insult.