A visit with Gregory Maguire

While staying in Concord, MA, we visited the author, most famously known for Wicked, Gregory Maguire. We went to his house, Gregory Maguire's house, for brownies, ice cream, and coffee. How cool! I was sitting in Gregory Maguire's living room, eating dessert made by him, Gregory Maguire. Anyhow, we all sat in his living devouring delicious food and talking with him and asking him any question we wanted....

So where do I start?

Well, to begin with, Gregory Maguire started writing and telling stories at a very young age. Eventually, he got into writing children's books; and eventually he wrote the books he is most well-known for, stories building off of the The Wizard of Oz. What I gathered from his timeline story, and Maguire even emphasized this himself, was that he has written a lot.

Right now you may be saying, "So what."

Well, Maguire's upbringing may have more to do with his success as a writer than one would thinking. Have you read the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell? This book proposes that peoples' cultures, upbringings, families, generations, etc. are the reason for their successes. All to often people look at what successful people are like. And the one thing the successful people have in common, save a few exceptions, is that they have accumulated 10,000+ hours doing what they are currently successful at.

Thus, I am proposing this is the reason for Maguire's success. He has been writing and telling stories for a long, long, long time. It was his only form of entertainment, since his parents did not allow him to watch television, among other things.

If you have not figured it out yet, the take away for all writers is write! You need to write daily. Make it a routine. Most American writers--Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Jack London--to name a few, all wrote 500 words a day on each project they were working on.

Writing daily is practicing writing. The more you practice, the better you are. When legendary golfer, Gary Player, was told he was the luckiest putter in the world, he responded, "Yes, and the more I practice, the luckier I get." I think this quote sums up the point perfectly. Practice. Practice. Practice. Write. Write. Write. You will get better.