Deliberate practice and honest feedback are absolutely key to improving, and mastering skills or interests.
I can’t begin to calculate the number of hours I devoted to writing before my first novel was accepted by a publisher, but I do know that I was able to accelerate the rate at which I learned because I was open to feedback.
You said, “Feedback is the difference between a person who puts in 10,000 hours and gets nowhere relative to their effort, and the person who rises to the top of their field after only 5,000 hours.”
I was fortunate to connect with a New York Times Bestselling Author early in my career. This connection opened up an opportunity to work closely with him for some time as he gave me feedback on my writing, invited me to attend his writing seminars, and later, to work as his personal assistant.
He was open and honest in his critiques, in his suggestions, and in sharing lessons he’d learned along the way. Somewhere along the line he formed a writing group of about six individuals that he felt showed great promise. The six of us met a couple of times per month and once again shared feedback with one another. Meeting-to-meeting, the growth each of us experienced was visible right there on the pages we had slaved over, the stories we brought for the others to read and comment on.
And there was no fear among us.
We knew we were all there to improve, to hone our craft, to become the best writers we could possibly be so we could experience growth, and ultimately, see our books in print.
The feedback shared in those groups was invaluable to every single member, and we have all gone on to see our writings in print. One woman puts out a book every few months, and is winning awards in the romance genre, but I remember her first shared writing and the work we all did together to help her improve.
The feedback helped me directly as well. I have gone on to publish five novels and two biographies. Unable to settle on any single genre, I then took a job in marketing at a tech company and love every single day of writing for such a fun and flexible company. I’m constantly praised for my skill, but I know I wouldn’t be anywhere near my current writing level had I not had friends and mentors along the way to guide me.
