The Talent Myth

At the base and the root of it, creativity is the art of creating. Obviously. Be it the idea, the object itself or even the solution to problems or puzzles, creativity is the art of thinking differently, working hard and bringing into being something that wouldn’t have existed if you hadn’t have made it or helped to bring it into being. In greater or lesser ways it’s present in every living thing and it’s creativity that fuels innovation as well as everyday life.

It’s essential to what so many people do; anyone who produces anything has to use creativity to do it and it’s just as important to what we do with game art and design. It’s present in the finished product, creativity goes hand in hand with craftsmanship to give a unique product that will be recognisable and with any luck stand the test of time. Creative thinking has the ability to rise above the problems presented by the limits of technology and comes out in new and interesting ways of creating games, game mechanics and the art and style of the game. Games like Journey, from Thatgamecompany, choosing innovative and new ways of playing and interacting with other players as well as games like Dear Esther by Dan Pinchbeck and Robert Briscoe for it’s haunting, minimalistic storytelling and lack of conflict that’s usually so prevalent in western games are games that stand out to me as being particularly distinctive for their creativity.

As for the myth of talent or gifts, when I left primary school I was declared to be ‘Gifted and Talented’ and placed on some list or other that marked me out as being especially talented. I myself was on that list for getting a particularly good write-up of my science scores but more notably for what my teachers saw as a gift for art. It seemed a little unfair to say I’d been gifted that ability; for as long as I could remember I’d been practicing drawing. I doubt I’d been born with the ability to draw if you look at what I produced at the very beginning it was much the same as my fellows but as we grew and diversified our interests my ability to draw grew where others favoured maths or sports. I’ve always been a pretty terrible footballer, but again then I’ve never practiced football, nor have I ever had the desire to practice. I made a pretty good swimmer but that was only because I trained for at least two hours three days a week. Without that effort I’d never have been good at it and the same goes for academic subjects as well. It takes learning and practice and the notion that Art and ‘creative’ subjects are things that people can be good at without trying is not just unfair on those who’ve built up those skills, but also a harmful way of thinking about it; I’ve known so many people who believe it’s an unobtainable gift that you can only be born with. It’s always seemed to me that the talent isn’t the skill but rather the drive, the will and the patience to practice at your interest until you’re good at it. Hard graft is always the thing most prized and for good reason. It’s that, coupled with the creative thinking is the best way.