On Writing Fast

A little reflection about the turnaround time.

Hi friends.

I’ve been slowing down at this residency so much I feel nearly paused. It has gotten me thinking about speed and how quickly we produce things. And why some work takes a long time and why some work comes more easily or at least faster. And the relative value of that work.

I met someone recently who was trying to cross a finish line on a project they’d been working on for years and years. There were specific reasons why it was taking as long as it did: additional research that had to be performed in archives and with interviews, and then more technical knowledge that had to be acquired in order to understand that research. But also there was an underlying desire for absolute perfection they found themselves mired in whenever they sat down to write. If they’d been working on something for so long, it had better be really damn good by the time they’re done. They needed to say everything they needed to say, and they needed to say it perfectly. It was messing with their head a little bit and things were taking too long, but also it was the only way through for them.

I cannot argue with their process because it is different than mine. I sense there is something about working on something for so many years that requires a different kind of ego attachment to it all. I only know how it works for me: When you write a book that has a quicker turnaround time, you will make other kinds of choices. The book will not be about everything but it will be about something.

By the way, my sense is that they will write an incredibly rich and textured book. One that I would never have the time or focus or inclination to write. We are different writers and that is OK.

They write long, and I write short. What will the book say about you in the end?

At the beginning of my career someone advised me to be the kind of writer who wrote a new book every two years. It would behoove me to write fast, they said. I could a create a different kind of career for myself.

I found that line of thinking interesting for a few reasons: