Jul
Motivation and 10,000 hours
Posted in How I Write Series, Writing, reading | 8 Comments »
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Last week we discussed Perseverance. Sticking to it. This week we’ll talk about Motivation.
What motivates you to persevere? What keeps you writing. As a writer we need to find what motivates our characters all the time. Without proper motivation the actions of our characters are discordant.
As writers ourselves we need to find our motivation because this is a tough gig and we need to go back to our core motivation from time to time and justify why we do what we do.
What motivates you to write? Why do you write?
My motivation for writing is to leave something behind that is uniquely mine. To teach and inspire others. To challenge myself to learn a difficult craft.
How do I stay motivated? That’s the toughest to answer because some days motivation is hard to come by and it’s antonym discouragement takes its place.
I recently began reading The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It analyses the lives of the highly successful. And it’s fascinating. In the book he discusses the rule of 10,000 hours (Chapter 2). If one spends 10,000 hours working to be more proficient at something then they become a virtuoso at that complex task. World class violinists, computer programmers, writers. Once you put in your 10,000 hours you’re made, if it’s quality time and you focus on advancing your understanding and knowledge of the craft of writing. Well, I’m willing to give it a go. Put in my 10,000 hours, see if I can become a great writer.
It’s all in the math. So how much is 10,000 hours? Right now I work about 3 hours a day reading and writing to actively advance my craft. I wish it were more but I don’t live in a vacuum. 10000/3=3333.33 days. Um, okay that’s about 9 years.
NINE YEARS! Well, okay at least now I know. And I’ve already put in about 1 or 2 of those years. So I have roughly 7 more years of work.
Now 10k hours isn’t mere proficiency at the craft, its mastery. So at some point in the next 7 years I’m going become proficient enough to write and sell a book. And if I continue to work hard, I’ll write and sell more books. But I’ve got to put in my time.
The fact that it’s only 7 years motivates me. Seven years is not a lifetime. But I could flounder for a lifetime if I don’t pay attention and I definitely do not want that. How about you? Do you think 10,000 hours is worth it?
Next week: Revision!
