Mailbag — The 40-Hour Work Week

Thoughts on this?

Ben,
This may be more of a question for someone at Poynter or, say, a Gangrey discussion if worthy, but I'm curious about the extra time – unpaid in many respects – that goes into running down the great stories.
The hours-required-to-"go-deep" issue, gets a lot of attention at writer's conferences. What isn't so often said, though, is the answer a lot of reporters really don't want to hear: "Just f—— make time!"
I guess my question is also about craft. Is it not impossible to deliver a fine-tuned piece like your jewel on the Tennessee escape artist and his hubcap-boiled-chicken-eating kin, if all you are willing to work are 40 hours a week?
I know that on the stuff I really…