What Makes Someone a Writer?

10,000 hours or 10,000 words does a writer make?

I am sure you’ve heard some version of 10,000 hours to be an expert. What if I told you all it really takes is 10,000 words or less?

Hear me out.

The idea of 10,000 hours to becoming a pro is based on a theory created by Malcolm Gladwell and introduced in his book Outliers. There is much to read about it out there if you are interested and many have spent considerable time and effort to prove him wrong.
Want to write horror like Stephen King? Might need to spend some considerable time writing. I think it is important here to shift the mindset away from needing to be an expert before one begins. I have heard so many people say to me, “I would love to write a book, but I’m not a writer.” Or “I haven’t gone to school for writing so I can’t start until I do that.” The list goes on. What if you didn’t have to go to school for writing first? What if you didn’t have to write a book before calling yourself a writer?    

As I worked on my first manuscript, I realized that at 10,000 words in I was saying things like “I’m not a writer until this book is completed” Of course, I was already writing and that first 10,000 words on that particular manuscript were not my first set. I was an avid writer of short stories and poetry long before the book transpired.   So, put your words down on paper or in type and say out loud “I am a writer”. It is the practice that makes the writer not a degree or a certain number of words.