On Writing “Fast” and Quality (Revisited)
July 17, 2024 by Harvey
In today’s Journal
* On Writing “Fast” and Quality (Revisited)
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
NOTE: Occasionally I will repost something I’ve posted before. This is one of those. This new version is also available free as a PDF download at Gifts & Archives.
This will serve as a reminder for some, but it will be new to others. I’m sharing this post with everybody.
On Writing “Fast” and Quality
Bestselling author Vin Zandri will tell you he writes no more words per day than will enable him to maintain quality. I couldn’t agree more.
Papa Hemingway was famous for reading over every manuscript from the beginning (cycling) before he started each day’s writing. On some novels and all my short stories, I do this too.
Other writers, including me, cycle back over what we wrote during the previous writing session before reaching the white space and continuing writing.
My readers swear by (not at, grin) my books. The comment I hear from readers most often is that they feel they’re part of the story. That they’re inside it, standing just outside the scene, eavesdropping and watching what’s going on.
Good. That’s exactly where they should be, and it’s exactly where I want them to be.
A Look Back to March, 2024
I set an annual goal this calendar year (2024) of writing 24 novels, two novels per month. If I finish my current novel by March 31, I’ll still be on track for that. (I finished the novel in time.)
No, I haven’t always been able to do that. But it all has to do with confidence in yourself, practice (putting new words on the page) and diligence (putting hours in the chair). Still, over the past almost ten years, I’ve turned out 88 novels. So almost 9 novels per year.
I’m currently a little behind the curve. As of July 17 2024, I’ve written only 10 novels this year. But that includes having taken some time off to write a major new ‘how-to’ on writing: Writing Better Fiction, and more time off to compile the Blackwell Ops Soleada Garcia omnibus collection of seven novels.
Yet the myth persists even among many other fiction writers that writing “fast” means poor quality.
When I mentioned my writing non-process to one writer who now writes posts for The Kill Zone blog and who “churns out” two novels per year (and is thought by some to be prolific), she actually said to me, “Yes, but I like to turn out quality work.”
Again, my readers love my stories and novels.
So if you were me, who would you listen to?
Would you listen to the pundits who say I should slow down, take the time to outline each new novel before I write it and then revise, then shop it around to a critique group and beta readers, and then rewrite and “polish” (I still don’t know what that means) before I finally (finally, finally) publish?
Or would you listen to the readers who say they feel as if they’re in the story with the characters and I should keep it coming?
The Myth of Writing “Fast”
The myth that you have to write “fast” to be prolific is pure, unadulterated BS. Boom. There it is.
I don’t write “fast.”
On a good day, I type 1000 to 1200 words per hour. That’s only 17 to 20 words per minute. That leaves a lot of time for sipping coffee or staring off into space. (Compare that with your speed in typing class in high school.)
I also don’t turn out poor-quality stories or garbage.
On days when I turn out 3000 or 4000 or 5000 words, I do so because I spent 3 or 4 or 5 hours in the chair at my writing ‘puter.
So that myth is gone. It isn’t the speed of your typing; it’s the number of hours you’re able or willing to spend in the chair putting new words on the page. Period.
Now let’s talk about Quality.
First, I don’t spend all day writing. In fact, I put in a lot more time working now than I did when I had an outside job.
My work now consists of or writing and publishing The New Daily Journal (three to four hours per day) or other nonfiction things, plus
answering emails,
creating promo docs for stories and novels,
designing and creating book covers,
maintaining StoneThread Publishing,
sometime going live on YouTube, etc. and
occasionally doing necessary chores around the house and grounds.
Here’s what I do to ensure quality stories and novels for my readers:
Practice. whenever I’m not busy working or eating or sleeping, I’m putting new words on the page. It’s called “writing fiction.” Talking about writing and thinking about writing and attending critique groups or conferences is not writing.
Cycle. I read over what I’ve written to give the characters a chance to add anything I missed. They do that during a brief pause in the action (writing) while I’m gasping for breath from trying to keep up with them.
Practice. When I reach the white space after cycling through what I wrote before, I put more new words on the page.
Learn. Between novels or stories, I read blogs or I read other writers’ stories and novels and glean what I can. When I find a place where the writer blew me away and I don’t know how s/he did that, I study that section to learn how s/he did it.
Practice. Are you seeing a pattern here? Lather, rinse, repeat.
I also prioritize. I measure every other endeavor in my day-to-day life against Scott Carpenter’s WIBBOW rule: Would I Be Better Off Writing?
The answer is usually yes, and I go write. When the answer is no, I do that first, and then I go write.
So if you aren’t yet a fiction writer and you want to be, you can.
I recommend following the steps above. With regard to Step 4, you can learn every aspect of the craft by reading Writing Better Fiction, which is always on sale in ebook form at StoneThread Publishing.
If you email me, I can also print and send you a binder-ready paper copy. It costs a little more (overhead) but it’s more convenient for some.
If you already write fiction and want to increase your productivity AND THE QUALITY OF YOUR STORIES, I also recommend following the steps above.
This isn’t what you’ll hear from 99+% of the pundits out there, but it’s the truth.
If you want to write quality fiction, all you have to do is take a deep breath, trust yourself and your characters, set aside all the stupid fear-based myths, and plunge in.
It really is worth it.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
So you want to write a romantasy? Start here From the article—”true ‘romantasy’” is a romance novel set in a fantasy world, not a fantasy novel with romantic elements or plotlines.” Interesting.
Interesting Perspective Writers being angry at Dean is kind of silly. Pulphouse is his publication, so he gets to decide his submissions policy, period. What writers get to decide is whether to back the magazine.
I agree with Dean that a writer should become familiar with any venue to which s/he desires to submit stories, but that shouldn’t have to include buying-in through a Kickstarter campaign. I would never personally submit stories to a “pay to play” venue. Nor would I advise any other writer to do so.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 1120
Writing of Blackwell Ops 26: Tailor Moses
Day 1…… 2069 words. To date…… 2069
Day 2…… 3438 words. To date…… 5507
Day 3…… 1464 words. To date…… 6971
Day 4…… 2089 words. To date…… 9060
Day 5…… 1037 words. To date…… 10097
Day 6…… 1092 words. To date…… 11189
Day 7…… 1286 words. To date…… 12475
Day 8…… 3631 words. To date…… 16106
Day 9…… 2011 words. To date…… 18117
Fiction for July…………………….….… 25325
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 440236
Fiction since October 1………………… 717968
Nonfiction for July……………………… 20190
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 231070
2024 consumable words………………… 645981
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 10
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 92
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 241
Short story collections…………………… 29
Disclaimer: Harvey Stanbrough is a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog he teaches Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies, and they will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. Harvey will never teach the myths on this blog.
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>>> actually said to me, “Yes, but I like to turn out quality work.”
Wow. Talk about a stuck-up writer turning up their nose at people right in front of them. There was no self-awareness whatsoever there. I bet that one is a real treat at a pot-luck or any other "luck" - wrinkling the old nose at everything they smell. Or read.
Ain't it the truth! It's amazing how much time writers DON'T spend writing but consider writing time. Formulating synopses and query letters for publishers/competitions/agents are hugely time-consuming, but they aren't actually writing. Editing and rewriting and editing and rewriting aren't writing. Research for a writing project isn't writing. Hanging out on social media for hours a day to chat with folks isn't writing. So many writers spend an inordinate amount of time and energy on that stuff, then they often gripe about not having time to actually WRITE FICTION. Well, duh. There are only so many hours in the day. Hello!
My personal life has finally settled down some, so I can actually put my butt in a chair for more than
a few minutes at a time AND be awake enough to write, so that's what I've been doing. I don't waste that valuable time and energy on all the stuff other writers call "writing". I spend it putting stories to paper. If they think that means I'm writing "fast", they need to reassess how much time they're wasting on non-writing and actually put their butts in their chairs to WRITE. I think they'd be surprised what they accomplish.