Should writers write every day?

As we get further into January, it becomes sink or swim time for any 2011 resolutions.  I'm not a big resolution person (I think they're usually too general or nebulous like "lose weight" or "be a better person") but I do like to have a few concrete goals for myself at the start of each year.  For 2011, one was to start a blog (check!) while another was one that most baby writers make and break yearly: to finish several projects I'd started...which really translates to the more general/nebulous resolution to "write more often."  This brings me to the somewhat divisive question I recently discussed with another baby writer and one that I think baby writers discuss all the time: Should writers write every day?  Luckily, I think I have the answer, and that answer is YES...SORT OF.  Let me explain...

I think the whole “writers should write daily” axiom can come across as a little bogus when pros say it to baby writers.  It sounds better to tell an eager baby, "Yes, write every day" than to say, "Well, yeah, I try to write all the time, but sometimes I just play Mass Effect and Madden all day."  Furthermore, I know for a fact some pros don’t write daily (on the flip side I know many who do).  And, how much are you supposed to write every day if you do write daily?  And, what about days you write a lot?  Do those balance out days you don’t write at all?  And does writing a blog count even if it has nothing to do with your screenwriting? (please say it does). So now that I’ve raised a bunch of questions and haven't explained anything, what was my point?

Well, I’m a big fan of the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (my friends tell me I’m kinda obsessed).  Anyway, the book throws a lot of ideas out there, but the one that really stuck with me was that practicing your craft can be equally if not more important than natural talent or ability.  Gladwell gives examples of “outliers” in certain fields like the Beatles, Michael Jordan, and Bill Gates, and talks about how all of these "outliers" had tons of meaningful practice in their respective careers before they made it.  This introduces the 10,000 Hour Rule...you've probably heard of it, even if you haven't read the book.  The rule basically says you need to practice your craft for 10,000 hours before you can reach the level of expert.

Now, there are plenty of people who want to dispute and nitpick this rule, but considering all the success stories Gladwell mentioned, let’s assume for a minute that he's right (or that we at least want to emulate the success of those people).  So then, let’s say you decided (or only made time) to write for an hour a day, 3 days a week (basically every other day...pretty common among some baby writers I know).  At that rate, it would take you 64 years to get your 10,000 hours and become an “expert.”  Ouch.  If you change that number so you’re writing 1 hour every day, that number goes down to about 27 years, and if you can manage nearly 3 hours a day or 20 hours a week, that number goes down to around 10 years.  

So, what does this mean?  Well, even after dedicating as many (unpaid) hours to your writing as you would to a (paid) part time job, it still takes years to reach that expert level.  Now, the good news for writers is you probably didn’t write your first word today.  You’ve likely had hundreds of hours of practice through school and your own enjoyment, already…but if you never make time to write (despite life or a busy work schedule), it’s gonna take a long long long time to get to that 10,000 mark (if you EVER reach it). 

So, let’s all resolve to "write more often" (every day or several hours once a week if that’s what works best for you) oh, and to read Outliers if you haven't, because it's awesome.