10.000 hours

I’ve finished Gladwell’s book Outliers, in which he researches the presets for succesful people. One of the things he makes clear is that although talent is the condition for first entry level, e.g. at a conservatory, but that becoming the extraordinary musician is defined by the amount of hours you put in. The best musicians that make it as soloïsts have put in the most hours of practice. In several scientific studies the ‘magic number’ of 10.000 hours appears to be the amount of time you should put in to become very skilled at it. 10.000 hours is approximately the equivalent of 5 years work, based on a 40 hour workweek.

I keep wondering what it is that I spent many hours on. Writing is one skill I’ve been practicing for a long time. Starting with the odd story in elementary school, editing the high school paper, blogging and the papers I wrote for conferences. It’s hard to say how many hours I spent writing, but I know for certain that it’s not near the 10.000 hours mark.

Gladwell’s book makes me rethink how I can seduce myself into writing more. Even if it’s not publishable, just writing for the sake of practice. I already knew that putting in the hours is what most professional writers do (read King’s book On Writing for instance).

Maybe I should start with analysing what is holding me back so far…