I need to write more words

Paul Dorset points out that the common rule of thumb is that it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert.  Then he applies it to writing.

10,000 is a lot of hours. It’s about 5 years of working an 8 hour, 5 day week with a few vacations thrown in. Or if you write at, let’s say 1,000 words an hour, it’s 10,000,000 words of writing. That’s a lot! Personally I think a better target would be about 2,000,000 words because if you wrote that many you would also have spent several times that editing and re-editing your work. I guess I’ve written close to a million words over my writing lifetime, but I’m not absolutely certain (I can definitely account for about 800,000). Either way, it’s a lot of words.

via Utterances of an overcrowded mind: 2. Become a Successful Writer in 2,000 Hours (Writing for Success).

 

Once again, I have work to do.

The many hats worn by writers

Bob Brewer writes that it’s not just about the writing.  A successful writer wears more than one hat…darn it.

From My Name is Not Bob:

Writing is a funny business. You get into writing because you love it. Then, you love it so much that you want to make a career out of the writing. It’s possible, but as you pursue your dream of becoming a full-time writer it becomes apparent that there’s more to being a writer than just writing.

via My Name Is Not Bob: The 8 Jobs of Modern Writers.

I have work to do.