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I'll say it right away: Dan Coyle's book did much to inspire my quest to "crack the code" of writing. In fact, I named my own book and learning system The Writing Code: The Only Comprehensive Guide To Writing Well in All Fields (The Writing Code Series). My Coyle-inspired quest transformed my approach to writing -- and to teaching writing to people of all ages and backgrounds.
Years ago, when Dan Coyle started work on "The Talent Code," he called me looking for contacts with the baseball world of Curacao. I had just written Little League, Big Dreams, which featured the Curacao team in the Little League World Series. He told me he was trying to figure out the secret of talent "hot spots," and he was intrigued that such a tiny country could produce such talent. I didn;t really know what he was trying to do, but I was happy to help.
When "The Talent Code" came out, it was just the book I was looking for. I had started teaching writing at Yale and SUNY-Purchase and I was working on a book about the 1963 March on Washington (Nobody Turn Me Around: A People's History of the 1963 March on Washington was published in 2010). I had embarked on my own quest to bring my own writing to a higher level and to help my students transform their writing. I read everything I could about learning and the brain. And I started to develop a number of simple tricks to help students to write better and faster.
Then Dan Coyle's book came out. I was blown away by his clear, lucid description of "deep practice" and "myelenation." These concepts supplied the missing elements of my own quest. The idea, in a nutshell, is this: We learn better when we break complex skills into their smallest parts, and then focus intensely on those pieces. As Coyle says, the old saying that "practice makes perfect" is not completely right. In truth, practicing the right way, with with total concentration -- and repeating simple actions, again and again -- is what makes the difference. So to master a skill like writing, we need to break it down, isolate each simple skill, and make each one interesting and usable. And we need to figure out a way to "burn" the skills into the brain.
I brought that insight into my teaching and writing. What a difference it makes! Following the approach that Dan Coyle explains in this masterpiece, I found it much easier to apply -- and teach -- all of the essential skills of writing. With this system, almost anyone can master all the basic skills of writing in a fraction of the time you spend in school. And, as Dan Coyle suggests, it's fun. Because when you make progress, when you gain real mastery, you develop confidence and a desire to practice what you've learned.
I hope this doesn't sound like a commercial. I just want to say how grateful I am for this book -- not just for me and my students, but for anyone who cares about learning. It's hard to imagine a more important book for education and the changing economy that depends so much on creativity.
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How.
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faster and better. I call this book the Black Swan of ...
History has shown us it takes a few years for a "powerful" idea or concept to get noticed by by a few thousand followers. These are usually fans of the author or people in the same field of study the book was originally written for. If a book has a following still after five years, it moves to the idea being applicable and being adapted by the reader and parts of society at large. The Talent Code will soon reach the phase of being a book that is used across disciplines with breakthrough results that will re-shape our future in being smarter, faster and better. I call this book the Black Swan of igniting talent. Black Swan's are those ideas that are unpredictable, improbable and create a huge impact for the world. Talent Code is doing just that. The scary part is the idea hasn't hit mainstream yet. But it is only a matter of time. Mark my words!
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- arad hilelReviewed in Germany on March 23, 2026
You'll get what you wanted and more
- janice henleyReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2021
Really interesting book
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Lluís Guiteras NovellasReviewed in Spain on September 15, 2025
Lectura recomendadísima.
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - DBPDCReviewed in Mexico on February 7, 2017
very insightful and inspiring!
Format: KindleVerified Purchase - Nicola SfondriniReviewed in Italy on May 5, 2023
Unlocking the Secrets to Nurture Greatness
