the secret to becoming a successful published writer: putting the 'deliberate' into 'deliberate practice'

You might love or hate Malcolm Gladwell, but since his book OUTLIERS came out the idea of "10,000 hours" has entered mainstream culture.

Gladwell argues:

When we look at any kind of cognitively complex field — for example, playing chess, writing fiction or being a neurosurgeon — we find that you are unlikely to master it unless you have practiced for 10,000 hours. That's 20 hours a week for 10 years.

I first heard this idea not from Gladwell but a writing teacher over twenty years ago, when I...