Carnegie Hall? Practice, man. Practice.
Sorry – it’s an old joke included in Stephen’s King’s On Writing which I’m concurrently reading with Hugh McLeod’s Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.
They dovetailed together last night around 11pm when I read this excerpt from McLeod’s chapter titled, “Put The Hours In” (I add the emphasis):
Stamina is utterly important. And stamina is only possible if it’s managed well. People think all they need to do is endure one crazy, instense, job-free creative burst and their dreams will come true. They are wrong, they are stupidly wrong.
Being good at anything is like figure skating – the definition of being good at it is being able to make it look easy. But it never is easy. Ever. That’s what the stupidly wrong people conveniently forget.
If I were just starting out writing, say, a novel or a screenplay, or maybe starting up a new software company or an online retail business, I wouldn’t try to quit my job in order to make this big, dramatic, heroic-quest thing about it.
I would do something far simpler: I would find that extra hour or two in the day that belongs to nobody else but me, and I would make it productive. Put the hours in, do it for long enough, and magical, life-transforming things happen eventually. Sure, that means less time watching TV, Internet surfing, going out to dinner, or whatever.
But who cares?
I made a pact with myself early in my career that I talk at length about in a little talk I give called All The Difference. Back when all I had were 300 bucks a week and a tab next door at My Brother’s Place, I still invested 10% of my earnings back into training for my career and improving my craft.
I did stuff. I took action. Breakthroughs follow action. Results follow action. Tails don’t wag dogs.
You say you really don’t have the time? Bull. I promise you can find it, and I promise it’ll be worth it.
Now, what’s your figure skating?
Leave a Reply