Storytelling is a really valuable skill. However, it seems to me that it is one of those abilities that some people just seem to be born with and that it is inherently difficult to learn. Can anybody offer anecdotal insights into whether or not this is something that you can become good at through practice?
More and more I've come the opinion that there is no skill someone is just 'born with' that cannot be learnt. It may be the case though that some people are exposed to events and circumstances that help them practice from such an early age as to have a huge headstart above others.
Anecdotally, I never thought I'd be able to draw, I used to think drawing (and art in painting, etc) was just something I wouldn't be able to do, though it's surprising and encouraging what you can do after dedicating some consistent time to practicing.
Also something I've started learning about recently is the art that goes into public speaking (from the Washington Uni Coursera course).
With knowledge broken down and explained by professionals, the mysterious becomes reachable through reasonable amounts of practice.
At the same time, some people are just more talented. No matter how much I try, I'll never be that strong compared to other guys. I can barely bench press above body weight ONCE. It took me years to achieve a 210 lbs max. I've taken time off and even after months of working my way back I'm still not back at this strength level yet.
Why can't the same be applied to skills that have a more mental component? Some people just don't get it.
There is a genetic component for sure; not everyone can become an elite athlete or lifter. However, with consistent training on a decent program (like you say), I would believe that nearly everyone who does not have a disability could get to a point where they can deadlift 2.5x ideal body weight, squat 2x, and bench 1.5x. And if you get here, you are physically strong.
I don't do specific training on those lifts, but I am approaching those targets. Hard work, eating right, and appropriate training.
To me, eating right means a good balance of carbs, fat, and protein. I target my ideal body weight in lbs x 1.5 as grams (about 260g of protein a day). I don't always get there, but I try to get to over 1/3 of that by early morning with some overnight oats with added protein powder, a protein shake post early morning workout, and something with protein for breakfast right before I start work). If I am building, I eat around 3k calories a day. If I am cutting, I try to stay around 2k.
Hard work means getting my heart going, sweating, and tracking and increasing my percentages. I enjoy crossfit style workouts. I track what my training max is, and lift an appropriate percent of that for given sets. Do varied lifts. Olympic lifts, power lifts, gymnastics, etc.
Appropriate training. Find a program and stick with it a while. A 5/3/1 program can be solid. I got a lot out of a cycle of juggernaut training on my back squat a while back. I went from 240 lbs to 305 lbs in a short window where I thought I had plateaued. I'm currently at 345 lbs. I'm in no rush to add the last 35 lbs to that to hit my 2x target, but I'll get there. If I wanted to get there faster, I'd be back on 5/3/1 or juggernaut again.
> I would believe that nearly everyone who does not have a disability could get to a point where they can deadlift 2.5x ideal body weight
There's no way I can deadlift 500 lbs, not after I injured my back anyway. But my best pull after 3 years of lifting was 335 lbs. My best squat was 285 lbs. Both at 196 lbs body weight.
> bench 1.5x
no way I can ever bench 300 lbs, I'm way too far from that mark. I can't even do 225 yet. If I got 210 after 3 years of lifting, it's safe to say my max is probably 250 or 270 or somewhere there, but not 300
I was on several programs for extended periods of time.
I was on starting strength for 7 months, got pretty fat, but also made most of my gains. I stalled multiple times after 6 months so I deloaded for some time and started lean gains. I only improved my deadlift on leangains after 11 months, and ended up spinning my wheels. I only lost weight at the end when I cut my calories more.
I tried UD 2.0 after this and got tendonitis in one of my calves and elbows.
Since about 6 months and many years later, no matter what program I did I only got marginal gains. Maybe bench would go from 185 max to 210 in 2 years.
I took time off and a year later I haven't gotten back to 210 bench. Part of why is because I've had shoulder impingement. So fixing the issue with posture and doing some myofascial release I've gone back to around the strength I had 6 months after I started working out. Probably in a few months more I can just get back to where I was previously.
At the same time, some people in high school are benching 300+
While I'm sure they exist, I've never met any young kids who were particularly good at telling stories. As with all things, some people have more natural talent than others, but I don't think anyone is very good right off the bat.
Think of it like any other art. Not everyone is equally good at it, but with practice, everyone gets better.
I used to be a Cub Scout (ages 7-10) leader in the UK. There were definitely certain children who could spin a yarn effortlessly. Though I can't rule out that being nurture it seems more likely to be based on a natural propensity.
Even in toddlers, with almost no language, some seem particularly adept at entertaining, which to me is a precursor for story-telling.
That's not being a novelist though, I think that's a different skill altogether. Novelists can be terrible story-tellers in person.
As a parent I've made up a few stories on the spot, it's really hard. Indeed just the telling part, with a story you think you know well (eg, for me, The Three Bears) is hard work.
I'd take stand up comedians as an example. I remember watching interviews of now well recognized comedians recount how they started out doing terribly. but through persistence, learned the craft and became professional storytellers.
I'm not sure about the "born with" part, but I think exposure to good storytelling in early childhood might play a significant role in whether you grow up to become a good storyteller. A consistent theme among famous writers is that they loved to read from a very young age, their parents used to tell them lots of bedtime stories, etc.
Maybe this early exposure to fiction influences a developing mind in a way that's much more difficult to achieve once you have grown up. Learning to jump seamlessly between Narnia, Hogwarts, the Hundred Acre Woods, Victorian England, Medieval Europe, the Arabian Nights, and back to the real world is a bit like learning a new language, a new culture. Children learn new languages much more easily than adults do, and the languages you learn in your childhood stick with your accents for the rest of your life.
The first is a good imagination. Most people are born with a good one. Imagination tends to be more born with and can be harder to improve.
The second is understanding how to take what you see in your head and tell it to others. This is the part that needs help. Speech class for oratory story telling, art class for telling stories with images, English class for telling stories with the written word and many others. (These also can overlap.)
The basis behind story telling may be innate but the ability to share with the world is something that needs a lot of practice and training to be smooth.
