{"id":4983,"date":"2012-01-23T14:49:57","date_gmt":"2012-01-23T14:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=4983"},"modified":"2012-01-23T14:49:57","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T14:49:57","slug":"repetition-and-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/repetition-and-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Repetition and Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"
Barbara Baig has taught writing for over twenty-five years and is the author of How To Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play (Writer\u2019s Digest Books). She offers free practice-based lessons for beginning and struggling writers at www.wherewriterslearn.com.<\/div>\n
http:\/\/accrispin.blogspot.com\/2010\/09\/guest-blog-post-how-deliberate-practice.html<\/div>\n
In study after study, researchers have found no evidence for innate talent as the prerequisite for success. Nor have they found that hard work alone makes certain people great. While successful people\u2014those who achieve excellence in a domain\u2014do work very hard, it\u2019s how they work that distinguishes them from others. It turns out that just putting in hours and hours at your chosen work is not enough; the only way to get better is to make sure you\u2019re devoting those hours to what the researchers call \u201cdeliberate practice.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2026 When most people practice, they repeat things they already know how to do. But when those who become experts in their field engage in practice, they spend most of their time doing things they don\u2019t already know how to do. They are constantly challenging themselves to improve, to do things better, to gain additional skills. Deliberate practice isn\u2019t just hacking around; it\u2019s hard work, which demands reaching for objectives that are always just out of reach. The only way to attain those objectives is through immense amounts of repetition. Ted Williams, the great Red Sox hitter, used to take swing after practice swing until his hands bled. Larry Bird, the legendary basketball player, got up at 6 a.m. every morning in high school, went to the gym, and shot 500 free throws.<\/div>\n
To get the most benefit from practice, keep these two principles in mind: repetition and reflection. Repetition\u2014lots of it\u2014is required to make skills automatic, so that when you sit down to write your novel, they are ready to work for you. Reflection\u2014what did I learn today? what do I need to learn next?\u2014keeps you on track in your pursuit of excellence.<\/div>\n
If all this sounds like a lot of work\u2014well, it is, just as becoming a professional athlete or musician is a lot of work. But if you love to write\u2014love it as much as Ted Williams loved to hit or Larry Bird loves to play basketball\u2014then practice is a kind of dedicated play, a source of pleasure and fulfillment. And if you are willing to shift your focus from getting published to becoming an excellent writer, then there\u2019s a very good chance that, eventually, your skills will take you to the \u201cbig leagues\u201d of the writing world.<\/div>\n
Recommended Reading:<\/div>\n
Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everyone Else<\/div>\n
Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code<\/div>\n
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers<\/div>\n
David Shenk, The Genius Myth<\/div>\n

\"05-baig-325\"

This article definitely echoes the fundamental principles taught in The One Hour Screenwriter eCourse<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

… In study after study, researchers have found no evidence for innate talent as the prerequisite for success. Nor have they found that hard work alone makes certain people great. While successful people\u2014 those who achieve excellence in a domain\u2014 do work very hard, it\u2019s how they work that distinguishes them from others. It turns out that just putting in hours and hours at your chosen work is not enough; the only way to get better is to make sure you\u2019re devoting those hours to what the researchers call \u201cdeliberate practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026 When most people practice, they repeat things they already know how to do. But when those who become experts in their field engage in practice, they spend most of their time doing things they don\u2019t already know how to do. They are constantly challenging themselves to improve, to do things better, to gain additional skills. Deliberate practice isn\u2019t just hacking around; it\u2019s hard work, which demands reaching for objectives that are always just out of reach. The only way to attain those objectives is through immense amounts of repetition. Ted Williams, the great Red Sox hitter, used to take swing after practice swing until his hands bled. Larry Bird, the legendary basketball player, got up at 6 a.m. every morning in high school, went to the gym, and shot 500 free throws.<\/p>\n

… To get the most benefit from practice, keep these two principles in mind: repetition and reflection. Repetition\u2014 lots of it\u2014 is required to make skills automatic, so that when you sit down to write your novel (or screenplay), they are ready to work for you. Reflection\u2014what did I learn today? What do I need to learn next?\u2014keeps you on track in your pursuit of excellence.<\/p>\n

If all this sounds like a lot of work\u2014 well, it is, just as becoming a professional athlete or musician is a lot of work. But if you love to write\u2014 love it as much as Ted Williams loved to hit or Larry Bird loves to play basketball\u2014 then practice is a kind of dedicated play, a source of pleasure and fulfillment. And if you are willing to shift your focus from getting published (or produced) to becoming an excellent writer, then there\u2019s a very good chance that, eventually, your skills will take you to the \u201cbig leagues\u201d of the writing world.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading:<\/p>\n

Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everyone Else<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Shenk, The Genius Myth<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can read the full article here–\u00a0http:\/\/accrispin.blogspot.com\/2010\/09\/guest-blog-post-how-deliberate-practice.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Barbara Baig has taught writing for over twenty-five years and is the author of How To Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play (Writer\u2019s Digest Books). She offers free practice-based lessons for beginning and struggling writers at www.wherewriterslearn.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It turns out that just putting in hours and hours at your chosen writing work is not enough; the only way to get better is to make sure you\u2019re devoting those hours to what the researchers call \u201cdeliberate practice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,78],"tags":[25,26,27,28,30,31,32,33,34,538,242,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,70,71],"class_list":["post-4983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-thoughts-pop-culture-political-movie-television-blog","category-writing-tips-tricks-advice-help-script-screenplay-screenwriting-blog","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-film","tag-films","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-one-hour-screenwriter","tag-sci-fi","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-tv","tag-writing","tag-writing-advice","tag-writing-tips"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image Size 500x500":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",500,375,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Hutzler","author_link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It turns out that just putting in hours and hours at your chosen writing work is not enough; the only way to get better is to make sure you\u2019re devoting those hours to what the researchers call \u201cdeliberate practice.\u201d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}