Luck v opportunity

I am currently reading the Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It is an interesting read. I am not sure if it is inspiring or not.
His big idea or theory as far as I can work out is that beyond a certain threshold of ability, the real thing that matters is opportunity and hard work. It is what you do as an individual with those opportunities that counts. Having talent matters to a certain extent but it is what you do with that talent that matters. It is the drive and the desire to succeed that matters as much as intelligence or raw test scores. For example, the affirmative action programs in various law schools have shown that achievement after law school is not based on the test scores/grades that people have to get in.
Because of the nature of the human experience, certain periods in history have thrown up opportunities. Certain familial backgrounds assist in making it easier for individuals to succeed.
For example, Mozart in part succeeded because his father was a musician and determined that his son would use his talent. Steve Jobs, a co founder of Apple and Pixar succeeds because he lives near HP engineers and is able to spend time working on computer projects. The book is slightly off here as Jobs lived in Cupertino during his junior high and high school years (he went to Homestead) rather than Mountain View. You simply do not live in Mountain View and go to state school in Cupertino. Says she who grew up in Mountain View. In any case it was the Santa Clara Valley and there was a predisposition towards computing as well as raising money for start ups in computing.
The Beatles succeed in part (according to Gladwell) because they learn to play together in marathon session in Hamburg.
It is not luck but making the most of the opportunities given and working very hard.
Once you have the ability, practice does make perfect. The better someone is at something, the longer they have probably practiced. It takes 10,000 hours to begin to know what you are doing and to start understanding the whys behind things so you can solve problems quickly. And there are a lot of people who do not want to put the time in and keep putting the time in. Most people give up or find something else to do.
People who truly succeed at something have an in depth knowledge of the subject and use that knowledge. When adversity strikes, they use the opportunity to succeed or to get themselves in a position to succeed. They are not strangers to rejection, but use it. They are also very focused on their goals, rather than on the prize at the end of the rainbow.
It is an interesting book and I am about 2/3 through it.
How can I apply it to my own writing. First of all, I need to be aware of the need to practice - -to write and to keep striving. 2. I need to make the most of opportunities that present themselves and to make my own luck. Success comes from making the most of opportunities.

Right now, though I remain behind on my wip and the deadline is looming. One of the great things about M&B is that it does the author the opportunity to write and to write a lot.

Genius v grinds

One of my problem with the movie Amadeus is the notion of the grind v the absolute effortlessness of Mozart. It belittles Mozart. Mozart may have had the ability but that ability was honed and polished by his father. From about the age of five, all Mozart did was play music. He grew up in a household where music was played and encouraged and that helped him.
The music flowed from his fingertips because he practised. He practised and played music because it pleased his father and because he had an aptitude for it. If Saliari had practised as much as Mozart and had grown up in the same environment, it is more than probable that he would have achieved the same level... In other words, Mozart worked hard, harder than most people realise and he did not just pick up a violin one day and compose music.
I can remember reading the autobiography of John Denver where he attributed his success at music to the hard work he put it. He spent hour upon hour during high school playing his guitar. He then toured and toured. This is not unique. Time after time when you really look at someone who has been a great success, you see that they may have had the predisposition towards something, but they were also willing to put the hard hours in.
Malcom Gladwell has recently written a book called Outliers: Is there such a thing as pure genius? You can read an extract of it here. But basically, he concludes that once you have the desire much of success stems from determination, dedication and discipline.
Twyla Tharp in her book, The Creative Habit also touches on this. The prima ballerinas always are the ones who are the first to the barre and who constantly practice and practice. They do not take their success for granted. It is a question of clock face polishing and striving to improve.
So what about romance writers? If you speak to any successful romance writer, they will tell you how hard it is. All the romance writers I know write because they love writing and reading. They have put the hard hours in. Some of it includes reading the genre and understanding the demands of the genre.
It is what gets me so cross about programmes about writing. Or having a go at writing a M&B. Do those presenters realise how long and hard the top talent have worked at it? Or how hard they do work at it? One of the reasons for M&B's success is that they have very hard working authors who are working to tell stories to the best of their ability. It is all about putting the hours in and honing your writing.
Over the long term, there are diminishingly few grinds.