Habit Only Matters if it Makes You Better
Practice isn’t enough all by itself. It has to be paired with learning.
“Forget talent. If you have it, fine. Use it. If you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter. As habit is more dependable than inspiration, continued learning is more dependable than talent.”
— Octavia Butler, Blood Child: and Other Stories
Talent is good. Habit and learning are better. But you have to use them together.
Habit and learning have to go hand-in-hand. It’s not an either/or thing. One without the other is like trying to row a boat with one oar, from one side. You just go in circles.
Let me give you an example.
I have a good friend who is a writer with the best work ethic I’ve ever seen. He has written, everyday, for as long as I’ve known him — and longer than that. Years and years.
For a long time, his habit didn’t do much more than get first draft manuscripts finished. A boatload of them. He’d finish a draft, read through it once (mostly for grammar) and then send it out to agents. Then he’d start on the next thing while he waited for the rejections to come rolling in.
