Quality V.s. Quantity

Talent and genetics matter of course, but hard work is all we should really focus on., and it doesn't get enough credit. There's the kind of myth that Mozart just was born and began composing. I read somewhere (I need to find it, if anyone can that'd be nice) that Mozart had received like 1600 (I think that was the number? around there) hours of compositon lessons from his father before the age of 6 or 10 (I think it was one of the two, but he was still not a teenager). We all know how much Beethoven slaved over his work. Composers that don't compose a lot are usually much worse than very prolific composers (think Schubert). There are rare exceptions to this like Debussy.

Hard work matters a lot, but what really stinks for some of us isn't that we aren't talented, it's that we didn't get the training like Mozart did. It's that we didn't get intense compositions lessons until older to kind of absorb the info in that special childlike way. The way we learn instruments as children is totally different than if a 20 year old just picked up a piano one day, and unfortunately that's time we can't repeat.

write a piece until you're satisfied with it, then write another. But Quality is always better than quantity. Would you rather listen to Rebecca Black for 12 hours? or hear a short piano piece by Chopin. (Hint, it's Chopin). But generally, just write, and you'll be fine