10,000 Hours

My name is Spencer. I'm 30 years old. And for the last thirty years, I've been in my own way. I love to write and I have written a lot of stories, not enough mind you, but a lot of stories. And in that time, I have run the gamut of excuses as to why I should do something else with my life other than write. I have doubted my ability, my intelligence, my imagination, my dedication, my discipline, and my mental state.

All artists struggle, all of us battle demons created by ourselves and external sources to bring the cloud of doubt over our heads, a storm that follows us around as we work on every single piece we put ourselves into. And while I'm pragmatic and understand that economy plays a bigger role in the current popular artists on display in music, art, literature, film and theatre, the true stars, the legends of any industry, the people that history remembers in any venue of art are those that are in it for the art itself.

The names that are remembered, that are studied in academic classes, that are passed down from grandparent to grandchild are those that stand outside of time. Their art represents something human that sloughs off all pretenses of the building, the making, the writing, the performing. The pieces that stand tall against time's withering effects, connect with us in cultural sense. They connect with us personally. They connect to us on a human level that reaches into an understanding of our DNA. And while a market can initially force a tipping point, the piece itself must stand on its own when the market has left it for the next money-maker.

As a pragmatic, I try to temper my romantic side into seeing a realistic vision for my own near future. I'm no Cormac McCarthy, I'm no Faulkner, Woolf, or Hemingway. Hell, I'm not even close to your best grocery-market thriller writer. But I believe that I have stories to tell.

There's a theory about 10,000 Hours created by Malcolm Gladwell that putting in that many hours into your passion, will make you an expert, will make you...something. And while the "12-step program" spirit and the self-help fluff that has come to surround his idea is hard to swallow for me, the concept feels founded in something real.

Whenever I watch my favorite football players play the game, I can see the hours of practice they put in  every day. If it's not on the field then they are going over the plays in their head, they are reviewing game tapes of their opponents, they are getting out into the backyard and throwing 10,000 footballs trying to hit a single target. They love the game with all that they are and want only to leave an impression on those that supported them, those that mentored them, those that coached them, that played with them, that watch them on TV. They put in the time and the repetitions and the work to be the great players that they are.

It takes time to be good at what you love. Ira Glass has a wonderful clip talking about the same idea. He notes how our tastes as artists of our chosen passion are often great, but that our talent lags behind that for a long time as we try to form the ideas we have in our head. We want to present the ideas we have while setting aside our creation of them.

A playwrighting (and yes I choose to spell it in the old way for a reason) professor of mine in college subscribed to the theory that you write 90% crap to find the 10% of pure gold that sits inside of you. I think this plays into the same 10,000 hours theory. You have to sit down and write out the 90% of crap as you mine for the 10% of gold that each of us has the potential to present to the world.

You can find examples of this theory in a lot of places, and how it effects and inspires those of us who want to create art. When an artist you meet at a comic convention writes about it, or a favorite upcoming rapper sings about it, the idea has entered the human consciousness and has become more than just a theory. The idea has begun to stand alone outside of the marketing that seeded it in our minds in the first place. And while I have my issues with someone using an idea simply to make money (a whole other facet artists must deal with), this idea can't be ignored.

This blog was created for me to share my struggles in pursuit of 10,000 hours. I'm not sure I'll ever write 10,000 stories in my life time, but it's the journey that matters right? It's the pursuit of the ideal, it's the step after step in the chosen direction. I am passionate about writing stories. Life has shown me 30 years of change and people and wisdom, but writing stories has never left me. As much as I doubt, as much as I stand in my own way as life throws its curves and cliffs in my direction, writing stories always, always makes me happiest, despite the act itself being a pain in the ass.

I want to know what 10,000 stories feels like. I want to strive to find the gold in the bullshit I throw out into the world. I want to sit here and write the words that will tell the 10,000 stories. I don't think I'll ever reach perfection or stand in the ranks of the giants that hover outside of history, but I'd like to try. What else do we really have in the end but our journey and the decisions we made to reach the ideal we have in our mind.

Welcome to my journey!