A couple of weeks ago I started attending a weekly wall climbing workshop at my local climbing hall (stay with me; it'll tie into writing fiction further down). I didn't know what to expected, how we were going to practice, how much feedback we'd get. I wasn't even sure I would learn anything at all … Continue reading The Power of Writing Exercises
Category: Learning
Why the 10.000 Hour Rule doesn’t Exist
When most people think about deliberate practice, it's probably in the form of the 10.000 hours rule invented by Malcom Gladwell. Hell, a lot of people who've never heard of deliberate practice, or deep practice as it's sometimes called, know the 10.000 hour rule. The rule states that: With 10.000 hours of practice, you can … Continue reading Why the 10.000 Hour Rule doesn’t Exist
The Dunning-Kruger Effect and how to Avoid it
I've previously written about the Dunning-Kruger effect, here, explaining why people are often terrible at judging their own abilities. Five minutes ago I just stumbled across this short video (5 minutes long) from TED-Ed and thought I wanted to share it with you. It elaborates what the Dunning-Kruger effect is and also briefly explains how … Continue reading The Dunning-Kruger Effect and how to Avoid it
Perfect Practice
Keeping in line with my earlier post about Deliberate Practice, I found this cool little TEDx talk (see below) about how a high level pianist practices. It illustrates nicely how it's not just the amount of time you spend practicing that counts but also how you practice. Worst case, you could be practicing bad habits, … Continue reading Perfect Practice
Deliberate Practice In Detail
I've been rambling a bit about deliberate practice and how I try to apply to my writing. So I think it's time I go into a little more detail about what exactly deliberate practice is. Unlike play, deliberate practice isn't inherently enjoyable. There's no instant gratification. So you got to have the discipline to sit … Continue reading Deliberate Practice In Detail
Deliberate Practice and the Dan Plan – part 2
Last time I promised a look at how apply deliberate practice to writing fiction, and bit more details about why the Dan Plan failed. So here goes. The often repeated writing advice out there is probably Write a lot. But if you listen to pro writers such as Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, or Dean … Continue reading Deliberate Practice and the Dan Plan – part 2
Deliberate Practice and the Dan Plan – part 1
I've mentioned briefly in previous blog posts how important I think it is to practice the right way if you want to excel at your craft. And that was actually my primary reason for starting this blog. I wanted to use it as a way of documenting my own progress and set-backs and to show … Continue reading Deliberate Practice and the Dan Plan – part 1
Practice, Practice, Practice (With Purpose)
The last post was all about how I and most other writers, start out on what many of us hope will one day become a career. This one is about those first stumbling steps we take in our effort to improve our writing, specifically about how I did it and what I do differently now … Continue reading Practice, Practice, Practice (With Purpose)
Toby Backman 