10,000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, claims that ‘geniuses’ like Mozart were not simply handed their genius status at birth, but in fact, worked really hard to achieve their status. Gladwell claims you have to spend 10,000 hours at something to become truly good at it, which is what happened in cases such as The Beatles, Mozart, and Bill Gates.

If you consider this theory, it could explain why there are no real ‘sudden’ writing geniuses. For example, the ‘geniuses’ who have burst onto the publishing scene with stellar first novels, aren’t an actual sudden success. They have worked long and hard to become this overnight success. In fact, it is rare for these ‘amazing first novels’ to be a true ‘first’ novel. Generally it is simply their first published novel. The writer has, in reality, been working at their talent for years and years and often have a stack of discarded manuscripts and accompanying rejection letters to prove it.

Let’s say you decide to put in your 10,000 hours. How long will that take?

At one hour a day, five days a week = 260 hours a year. 38.46 years. Gulp.
At three hours a day, five days a week = 780 hours a year. 12.8 years. That’s still a lot.
At eight hours a day, five days a week (remember, no holidays) = 2080 hours. 4.8 years.

Yowzers, it’s hard to get in those 10,000 hours, isn’t it? You have to live it, breathe it.

I’ve been writing for 2 ½ years and I can see the difference that time has made in my skills. Over time, they have improved dramatically. But, have I put in 10,000 hours yet? Not likely! In the past 912 days (2 ½ years), I know I haven’t put in 76.3 hours a week to make 10,000 hours. Say you put in your 10,000 hours, then are you a genius? I would argue, not necessarily. Look around a typical office. Is the guy who has placed himself at his desk day after day for the past ten years further ahead than that newer guy who lives and breathes his work? You know, the one who jumps at every chance to go to a conference, who reads work magazines and puts intention behind his professional growth?

Although I am not drawing in on 10,000 hours as of yet, I would say the hours I’ve put in thus far have been full of intention. When I sit down at my laptop, it is with the intention of learning something new, of adding onto my skill set. There is an unreal amount to learn as a writer. HUGE amounts. It isn’t simply about plot and grammar, there is the business aspect and the personal growth. Challenging yourself. Building on your strengths, working on your weaknesses. If you aren’t spending your hours with intention, how far do you really expect to go?

In the past two years, I have sat down at my laptop and read agent blogs, editor blogs, publisher blogs, joined online communities, participated in online chats with authors and agents. Made friends, critiqued the work of others, had my own critiqued. Mulled over tons of advice and integrated it and shared it. I have reworked a 300-word document over 60 times, each time bringing something different and new. I’ve written five manuscripts, each time getting better and better. Stronger, more succinct. I learn a new word everyday to build my vocabulary. I read books on writing, I’ve attended workshops and taken classes. I look up grammar rules when I’m in doubt. I’ve built two blogs and a website. Even when I read for pleasure, I am working on my writing, seeing how the author has slowed the pace, described something, built a character or plot. How they made me laugh. Their sentence structure. It’s all there. Intention.

I might be only half way to 10,000 hours, but imagine what I can learn in the next 6,000 if the first 4,000 are any indicator.

I can hardly wait.

New Year Writing Workout #5: Shopping List

How are you feeling? Are those exercises getting your writing muscles limbered up?

Today’s exercise is odd, but fun. First things first, take a peek in your fridge and cupboards, then grab a pen and paper and write out a grocery list. If you want, you can borrow mine:

sour cream
eggs
bananas
cucumber
bread
crackers
milk

What we’re going to do is make that grocery list stand out. We’re going to make it evocative. Ready?

We’ll get ourselves started with a few themes to help us get in a ‘mood’. To make it simple for our first go around, we’ll use some of the main story genres; romance, science fiction, mystery and literary.

Let’s start with romance. Pick an adjective (or verb) for each of the items on your grocery list that shows your genre/theme. By the time you’re done your list, there should be a feel for the theme. For example, in romance you might have passionate milk or caressing sour cream, maybe some doe-eyed eggs and swooning bananas. My list is a bit silly, but it gives you an idea, particularly if you compare it against the adjectives you pick for another genre.

How would your list differ for science fiction? And mystery? Maybe you’d have screaming crackers, murdered eggs, stealth bread.

When you’re done your lists, compare them. Can you get a sense of the genre/theme or emotion you are trying to convey in each list? (Ignore the genre title.)

When you are done laughing at yourself and your list, check back with a few scenes in your manuscript and see if your adjectives and verbs are doing the work you think they should to evoke mood.

Enjoy!

Stand Out

With the economy dipping down low, there are obvious implications in the publishing industry. Everyone from agents to editors are going to be more careful about what projects and clients they take on. Nobody wants to take a risk when the business itself is already risky. They want a sure thing. They’re going to be searching for the professional newbie in the pile. The one who has done their research, is easy to work with, takes the time to ensure small mistakes are corrected and the like.

That means us aspiring types must take the time to personalize our queries, ensure our queries make sense and express in simple terms what our story is about. We have to showcase. We have to sell. Now is not the time to sit back and say, “I am so wonderful, they will come to me. They’ll ignore a few typos and ill placed adverbs because they’ll see how stellar my story is. My talent will speak for itself.” Not. Give it your best shot, folks. Dazzle them. Make them jump up from their desk and whoop in joy for finding someone who knows the business and has taken the extra few days or months to ensure their submission is A1.

Case in point, Kristen Nelson of The Nelson Literary Agency read 35,000 queries in this last year. Of that, she read 88 fulls and of that, found 2 new clients. 2 in 35,000. You heard right.

Make sure you stand out. Make sure you’re the best you can be.