That said, there is also some interesting research around creativity and frequency of effort. In one study, two groups of students were asked to create pottery – a jar, I think. The first group was given (say) a week to create one jar that was as good as they could make it. The other group was to make as many as they could in the same time. Interestingly, the best jars came from the second group.

Research into creativity and genius also suggests that there’s sort of a 10,000-hour, ten-year “entry fee”…until you’ve put in at least that much time, you won’t produce the great works. See Malcom Gladwell’s “Outliers”, among others.

So there’s probably a lot to be said for just sitting down and “writing”, where “writing” may include the planning you mention. Don’t get caught up in the definition of “writing” being “adding words to the story in a word processor”. It’s a common trap in software development: the urge to start coding right away, and the failure to include testing, documentation, design, rollout, and support in the effort involved to produce a working system.

I’m sure I’ve seen at least one of these arguments on your blog, so I’ll bet you’re aware of these factors already, but I felt compelled to post.