最新研究表明，将天才与仅仅技艺高超的人区分开来的关键因素，不是智商（IQ），智商通常并不能预测成功。相反，刻意练习才能导致成功。出类拔萃者花更多的时间练习他们的技艺。如果你想描绘一个典型的天才是如何养成的，你可以拿一个有略微高于一般人的语言能力的女孩做例子。这种语言能力不需要是很大的天资，只要让她足以有一定的杰出感即可。然后，你想让她遇见，比如说，一个碰巧和她有一些相似特质的小说家。也许，这个作家来自同一个城市，有同样的家庭背景，或者，和她同一天生日。
这种遇见会给这个女孩一个未来自己的愿景。这会让她有某一天自己也许会加入一个令人神往的圈子的想法。如果，她的父母在她12岁时去世了，从而给了她一种强烈的不安全感和不顾一切成功的需求，这（对她的成功）也会有所帮助。有了这样的抱负，她会不停地阅读小说和作家的生活故事。这会让她具备这一领域的初级知识。她将能够以更深层的方式看到新的写作，并且快速理解它的内部运作。
接着，她会练习写作，她的练习将是缓慢的，辛苦的，聚焦错误的。通过这样的练习，她延迟了自动化的过程。她想把有意识的，新学会的技能转化成无意识的，自动化写作的技能。通过缓慢的练习，通过将技能分解成细小的部分和重复，她迫使大脑去内化一种更好的写作模式。然后，她会找到一个会提供源源不断反馈的指导者，从外部看赏析的写作，纠正最细小的错误，推动她承担更难的挑战。到现在为止，她正在重新解决难题 — 我如何将人物放进一个空间— 几十次上百次地重复。她正在建立一种，为了理解或解决将来问题她可以召唤的思维习惯。
我们这位年轻作家拥有的最初的特质不是什么神秘的天才。它是一种培养刻意的，辛苦并枯燥的练习常规的能力。最新的研究从伟大的成就中将魔力去除出去。但是，却强调了一个经常被忽略的事实，公众的讨论受遗传学和我们与生俱来所能做的事情的影响。然而，基因在我们的能力中起一定的作用，这是真的。但是，大脑也是极具可塑性的，我们通过行为建构我们自己。
译者总结：天才练成地图
有略微高于常人的天资 — 遇见：有共同特质的高人 —产生未来的自己的愿景 — 一点加入令人神往圈子的梦想 — 苦难造成的强烈不安全感和成功的需求 — 大量阅读作品和作家生活故事 — 深层方式看待写作及其内部运作 — 缓慢、辛苦而枯燥的练习— 将有意识，学习的技能转化成无意识，自动化表现的技能 — 大脑内化更好的写作模式— 有一个不断反馈，赏析，纠错，推动的指导者 — 不断重复解决难题— 建立正确的思维习惯
附英文原文：
The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not IQ, a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it’s purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or, shared the same birthday.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would give her some idea of a fascinating circle she might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’d be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.
Then she would practice writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error focused. By practicing in this way, she delays the automating process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly-learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better patter of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance from the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems—how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.
The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful,laborious and boring practice routine. The latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.
