How Long Until We Get There?

15 minutes + X days = 10000 hours. What is X? I know you might be asking yourself right now if this is a blog about writing or math. Maybe a little bit of both. There is a theory out there by Malcom Gladwell that if takes 10000 hours to become a master. So if I keep up my daily 15-minute writing sessions it should only take me about 2667 days or just under seven and a half years to become a master writer. Awesome, in about eight years I should be able to give a manuscript to a publisher and head straight to the top of the New York Bestsellers list. Right? Well… not exactly.

I know that there are research studies that try to debunk the 10000 hours philosophy, and that it can’t be that simple. I don’t think Gladwell is saying that it is that easy. There are several variables the come into play. One of the most important variables it the quality of those hours of practice. This is not 10000 hours of study or reading about how to become a writer. It is 10000 hours of quality writing. I will admit that some of my 15-minute sprints are not quality. I do it to keep the habit, but the quality isn’t there sometimes. You can see how that might stretch out my little timeline.

I do think that quality application and practice of skills can carry you to the next level, but once you get there you have another aspect of the skill that you need to master. You can alway improve. As a writer, I need to be a master of creating characters, plot lines, interweaving themes, writing dialogue, and more.

The more time you practice, and I mean deliberate quality practice, the better you will be. People often say that practice makes perfect, but it is perfect practice makes perfect.

So if you really want to master something, you need to master practicing. Over time it becomes part of who you are to the point that you don’t have to think about what to do. It is as natural as breathing. So keep breathing and keep writing until you master the craft and are able to write the story you are supposed to tell.

Only 2666 more days to go.