I've often wondered at the source of Anthony Trollope's prolific output. How could one man generate so many thick books that were written with a quill? Baumeister has provided the answer. Well, Trollope revealed his methods in an autobiography, but I just read about it in Willpower.
"He would write for two and a half hours, monitoring the time with a watch placed on the table. He forced himself to produce one page of 250 words every quarter of an hour. Just to be sure, he counted the words. At this rate, he could produce 2500 words by breakfast. He didn't expect to do this every single day, but he made sure each week to meet a goal. For each of his novels, he would draw up a working schedule, typically planning for 10,000 words a week, and then keep a diary/"
Brilliant work is never executed in isolation. Novels that change lives, paintings that transform art, or albums that change the way you think about music have their roots in the daily struggle to create something meaningful. The breakthrough success is built not a single moment of inspiration but countless hours of tedious accumulation.
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