10,000 Hours

The trick is to persevere, and not loose hope. Be tenacious. Be dedicated.
So, how long until this becomes more fun than frustrating? Depends.
For those who may not get the 10,000 hours reference, that is the amount of time it takes for a person to become expert on a task. 10,000 hours.
I was reminded of this as I was 500 words deep on my next chapter for "The Abduction of Luna". Yep, there I was, feeling good, feeling like I had made some really good progress, until I checked the length.
Only two pages, 543 words.
And I had spent two hours writing. That means about 271 words per hour. About ONE PAGE an HOUR!
Cue the dark cloud of frustration and discouragement.
I have no illusions. I know that my current ability is about the level of a good author's first draft. I also know that I am not the fastest at the keyboard. Granted, I am far better than hunt-and-peck level, but not yet to the point that I can look at the screen and type away - accurately - without looking down to reference the keyboard. I have no idea what my actual typing speed is, but, one of my biggest frustrations is the time it takes me to get my ideas down.
I have tried to speed up the process by just throwing down my ideas in a free-writing style, but that was less effective than I had hoped. If I noticed an error, I struggled to ignore it. If I became stuck for a word, I cringed at the lesser one in my attempt to move on. In short, I soon found my creativity stifled by the glaring flaws. Even though I knew I was going to come back and correct them.
10,000 hours.
Experiment. Improvise. Adapt.
I know that there are techniques such as story outlines. I currently have never done one. But, I believe that it could be a useful tool. If I can keep myself from getting too involved or detailed.
10,000 hours.
In one of her interviews, Lauren Faust told an artist to persevere and not to give up. For, "Every artist has to do 10,000 bad sketches before they can start getting the results that they want." (May not be an exact quote, but she did use the phrase "10,000 bad sketches") And there is that number again.
So, I am left with the question; Am I making progress? Yeah, I think I am. Perhaps, even as I advance chapter by chapter. However, I really do wish that I could speed things up.
10,000 hours.
There is a story told about a man who came up to a master violinist after a concert and declared: "Please, sir, take me as a pupil. You have inspired me, and I am willing to devote ten years of my life to you and the violin to play as well as you do now!" The man beamed. Certain that the master would be impressed at his commitment.
The master laughed. "You would give up ten years of your life to dedicated study and practice of the violin to play at my level?"
Puzzled by the unexpected response, the man's face grew serious. "Yes, I assure you I will!"
The master laughed again. "So would I. That would be a bargain. For I have devoted nearly twenty years of my life to the violin!"
10,000 hours.
How badly do I want to become an expert? What sacrifices am I willing to make?
10,000 hours.
There is no shortcut to mastery. Talent may just be time-on-task.
10,000 hours.
Time to shut off the TV and start writing.