The long cut

Stephen King’s advice for those who want to learn how to write well is, “Read and write 4 to 6 hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can’t expect to become a good writer.”

Malcolm Gladwell adds in his book, Outliers, that anyone can become an expert in their field by deliberately practicing for 10,000 hours.

If you follow King’s advice, you can hit Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule in about five years.

Not as long as someone might think to become an expert in your field of choice.

But it requires patience. We have to decide if we are going to show up every single day. That’s what the pros do. Of course, you don’t feel like showing up today. But we promise ourselves that we will start tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and now we are looking for the short cut to make up for lost time.

So start where you are. Instead of looking for the short cut, take the long cut. The one day at a time strategy. Average work for average pay isn’t acceptable for anyone’s standards anymore. It’s not enough to make a ruckus. Turning pro is your best option.