The Writer's Connection, SM
a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach SM


"The Creative Process of Writing is a Liberating and Therapeutic Experience"

www.virtualwritingcoach.com

October, 2009

In This Issue:

1. Preview
2. Publisher's Note
3. Gladwell's Book, Outliers
4. Helpful Hints

1. Preview

The Writer's Connection explores the creative process of writing and the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and actions. We are an interactive community of authors and readers who share ideas to enhance our knowledge, skills, and experiences in writing fiction in any genre, but our emphasis remains mystery and suspense thrillers.

Published monthly, the Newsletter offers writing tips for authors, coaching suggestions, editing, and marketing information.

Topics are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and represent only his ideas on producing your first manuscript, and are provided to the general public. Because we are an interactive community of writers, other viewpoints are welcomed and may be printed in future monthly newsletters with permission from Keith Barton.

2. Publisher's Note

October, 2009

Dear Writer's Connection Subscriber,

This month features Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, and the importance of when, where, and family heritage as predictors of future success.

3. Gladwell's Outliers

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell of Blink fame has written an epidemiologic analysis of why certain people are more successful than others. It has less to do with IQ levels and more to do with one’s heritage, culture, and time of birth. It is a fascinating book that explains why all top New Yo9rk lawyers have the same resume, what the Beatles and Bill Gates have in common, and the hidden advantages of star athletes (from the book jacket). Some examples follow.
Gladwell posits the “10,000 hour” rule—e.g. it takes 10,000 hours to be really good at anything whether it’s playing the guitar, programming on a computer, playing video games, working math problems, or playing soccer. Above an IQ of 120, the 10k rule is more important than IQ; thus an a guitarist with an IQ of 160 plays no better than a guitarist with an IQ of 120; it really depends on how much work and effort one applies himself. This is true with Bill Gates and his hanging out at the computer lab at 13, the Beatles playing in Hamburg, Germany, at 14 years of age, before their meteoric rise in Liverpool, England and America, or Warren Buffett studying the stock market at an early age, all easily putting in at least 10k hours of work (about five years of working full - time on one project only).

Gladwell suggests that for elite colleges they would do just as well using a lottery system if 95% of their student applications are from valedictorians who score above 1500 on the SAT (1600 max). For example, Harvard only accepted 7% (1600) applicants last year who had nearly identical high school records. To say that the remaining 93% who were rejected was due to something other than academic merit is pure dishonesty. Instead of measuring IQ in a western concrete sequential learning environment where rote memory and convergent thinking is important (as in medical schools with rule outs to arrive at a diagnosis), what if convergent thinking were being tapped? Suppose students were asked: How many different uses that they could think of for a brick and a blanket? Those who come up with more uses are arguably more creative and abstract thinkers which might prove a more useful diagnostic for admissions to a fine arts school.

When one is born is also important: those born in 1935 when the U.S. birthrate was the lowest were too young for service during WW II and instead went to high school in the fifties when our schools had some of the best public teachers. These high school seniors later became a cohort of college professors and educators who were brilliant because they couldn’t get the jobs they wanted during the depression so they taught school. Another epidemiological fact is that Jewish garment workers who emigrated from Europe to NYC in the 30s later raised doctors and lawyers. For example, a Russian tailor comes to America, takes a needle trade and works in a sweat shop for a small salary. He opens another shop, hires workers and begins to supply several men’s stores (following the 10k hour rule).

Another interesting chapter reviews Korean airline crashes in the 70s with the 707 and 747 aircraft to find out that culture was most responsible for the crashes because first officers do not enjoy equal status and defer to the captain, even if he is tired and confused in the cockpit. In contrast, American pilots do not defer based on status if an air disaster is imminent. There is more communication and the captain and co - pilot back each other up.

Gladwell relies on the research of a Dutch psychologist in the 60s and 70s, Geert Hofstede who coined the term “uncertainty avoidance” which is how well a culture tolerates ambiguity. Those that are more reliant on rules and commands are: United States, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand; those at the bottom of the list with more ambiguity in the cockpit are: Brazil, South Korea, Morocco, Mexico, and Philippines. Needless to say the NTSB recognized this 20 years ago and all airline crews are trained to back each other up and are equal in the cockpit regardless of rank or experience.

Another interesting chapter describes how Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are more proficient in math which has more to do with their language to describe numbers faster than English students. Also growing up in southern China where one must feed one’s family from a 450 square foot wet rice paddy allows one to be more ingenious and work on the average 3000 hours annually compared to other countries who work much less.

Helpful Hints:

1. Why do U.S. students perform more poorly at math and science compared to Asian students?

2. Why is birthdate year an important variable in determining one’s potential for success?

3. When was the last time you spent 10,000 hours on only one activity? If so, what was your success?

Subscription Information


The Writer's Connection SM is a free publication. If you want to continue to receive this Newsletter, you can SUBSCRIBE by clicking here or by sending a blank email message to vwcnewsletter@virtualwritingcoach.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

To UNSUBSCRIBE click here or send a message to vwcnewsletter@virtualwritingcoach.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Be assured your name and email address are confidential. We do not sell, rent or share our mailing list with anyone.

Contact Information

Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281 - 583 - 5005
Fax: 281.583 - 5008
Web: http://www.virtualwritingcoach.com
E - Mail: keith@virtualwritingcoach.com
(c) Copyright 2003 A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
All rights reserved.

Distribution Rights

The Writer's Connection SM is copyrighted, but you may retransmit or
distribute it to whomever you wish as long as not a single word is changed, added, or deleted, including the contact information. However, you may not copy it to a web site.

Republication of The Writer's Connection SM in paper media is encouraged and permitted by individuals, organizations and associations, as long as the issue is reprinted in its entirety, without change, and includes the contact information.

With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue to fit your space requirements. Republication also is encouraged under other circumstances. However, the advance permission of A. Keith Barton, Ph.D. must be obtained in the event that changes in the text are desired.

The Writer's Connection SM Mission:

The Writer's Connection SM is dedicated to helping first - time authors create their first manuscript for publication and to offer an exchange of ideas and opinions from our readers who might be interested in becoming authors.

The Writer's Connection™ is a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton, Ph.D. and a registered trademark.

We would like The Writer's Connection SM to be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments, topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time. Send your e - mail to
keith@virtualwritingcoach.com.

Please forward this issue to anyone you think would find The Writer's Connection SM interesting and beneficial. Your recommendation helps us keep growing, and ensures an excellent exchange of information and techniques.

Archives

You can read previous issues of The Writer's Connection SM in our archive section which is located at the top right section of this page.

About Keith Barton, Ph.D.

Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist for over thirty years. He is currently enrolled in MentorCoach and is accepting new clients. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina, consultant to Fortune 500 companies in executive development, founded and managed Texas Community Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing group home services to persons with mental retardation, and for the past 13 years founded and runs a clinical practice in Northwest Houston. He writes part - time with the goal of completing one novel a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate interest in helping others become attuned to their creative powers of storytelling.

Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family therapy and health psychology. He has published articles, made presentations and conducted workshops about:

Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self - esteem
Communication skills
Marital/relationship enrichment
Wellness issues
The relationship between psychology and spirituality

Copyright by Virtual Writing Coach (SM) and Keith Barton, 2001 - 2008.