Becoming a writer

James K.A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin College, has recently offered some suggestions for those who desire to become writers. Since I am working on the craft of writing, in the form of a dissertation, this is directly relevant to me. The fourth of his four suggestions is taken from Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: one becomes a "genius" after spending 10,000 hours honing a single craft. Smith's reference is the second or third time in the past few weeks that Gladwell's thesis has come to my attention. The lesson here is the same one that was suggested to me during Baylor's orientation to the doctoral program:

Write.
Write every day.
When you do not feel like it, continue to write.