Why You Should Write Less

Many writers seem to misunderstand the nature of what they do, and this leads to them becoming horribly hurried and overworked.

A writer should never rush

I read articles, time and time again, from successful writers attributing their career accomplishments to waking up at 6 A.M. every day and writing for some set period. There is, perhaps, some advantage to be had in constantly producing content; I suppose your readers may be able to rely more fully on you for advice or entertainment or whatever it is you’re writing on. But this approach disregards the primary potency in writing: A written work is everlasting.

I’ve often weighed whether I should aim to produce two good articles a week or take my time and put out one great article every two weeks. The results in terms of readership are clear; an overwhelming amount of my “reads” every week occur from those pieces that were of the highest quality and were accepted to top publications. Beyond this empirical evidence, one can logically reach the conclusion that, if the writing is to exist and potentially garner attention for all of time hereafter, it should never be rushed, and instead the priority should be on creating quality work.

Indeed, writers on certain subjects are not equally entitled to the infinitely enduring value a piece of writing can possess. If one writes on current affairs, for example, rushing may become a necessity. This may serve as incentive to focus on subjects less susceptible to obsolescence. At any rate, even accounts of current affairs age into historical accounts, so there can be an advantage to proceeding with patient assiduity.

You are what you eat

Any writer who starves themselves of great written works will in turn starve their readers of any great written works. Your skill in writing, the ease with which you can develop insights, and the elegance of your style are all gained through your literary diet. No matter what subject you write on, you must digest works of fiction, poetry, and particularly inspired pieces of non-fiction — and each of these only ever of the highest quality.

There is no sheep so gifted that it can transform subpar feed into the finest wool, and there is no writer so talented that they can, on a diet of reality television and tabloids, produce quality writing. There is far too much emphasis put on practice and far too little put on diet. Just as with the bodybuilders and athletes, diet and digestion are as critical to development as exercise.

Oh, sweet brevity

In what area of life do we not prefer to get more from doing less? So it is for the lazy reader in us all, who prefers always a mote-sized diamond to a mountain of gravel. Better a paragraph of the highest quality than a compendium worth of mediocre writing.

You are an inexhaustible well

It gives me such confidence and calm when writing to know that I’ll always have something to say, for I’m drawing from a bottomless reservoir. The physical reality is infinite in both space and time, and even if you do not allow for this, it still must be functionally infinite for you, who occupies such a tiny pocket of the grander whole.

Any one happening in this interminable procession begets many times more particular aspects and relationships to be observed and treated of. Each of these particulars can be viewed in a million different lights, and any thoughts which they inspire can be worded in yet another million manners.

There will never come a day when the world has run dry of experiences to put before you, and so there will never be a day when the writer is bereft of fodder from which to produce words. For a second time and a second reason, don’t rush: inspiration is on its way to you and always will be.

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