Episode 22 | Quality over quantity in your writing and slowing down

 

Quality over quantity 

Episode 22 

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.” 

― Beatrix Potter

Hi friend! Welcome to the Faith Writing and Coffee Chats Podcast! My name is Moriyah and I am a Christian, writer, book and coffee lover! Today I have an iced spiced latte! I hope you have a wonderful drink with you! 

The weather has been getting warmer and it’s been so delightful! I love the sunny, warmer weather! It was also very fun, just last week I was a guest on The Oils Market show which is one of my mom’s podcasts. We chatted about using essential oils in baking as well as in teas and more! It was so fun and I’ll have a link to that episode (here: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2024/05/i-was-guest-on-oils-market-show.html)! 

Today is going to be a fun chill episode. I actually tried recording this episode a few days ago but then there was a glitch in the program and I lost that episode which was sad but I think ended up being good because I got to think about this topic more and narrow it down so this should be a good episode and I’m praying it saves and doesn’t shut down on me. 

So, Today I’ll be chatting about having quality over quantity in writing and slowing down! This all kinda sprung up from a conversation I had with some family who came over a little bit ago as well as with a friend! 

So grab a cup of coffee or tea and let’s chat! 

Quality over quantity in writing 

I want to talk about something that is becoming more and more important to me as the years go by and as I’ve learned and grown in writing. That is having quality stories over quantity. 

This was not something I really thought of when I first started out writing, actually it wasn’t really at all on my raider but for the past few years—maybe like the last two years. 

So, some backstory to this post, I started writing really at sixteen—that is when I would say I found my love for writing and wrote my first book. Not that it was a problem exactly but I loved doing writing challenges and prompts and word count goals and there is nothing wrong about any of that. I think it really pushed me and got me thinking creatively in new ways but I also think there were points in my writing when I would be so focused on hitting that daily word count or chapter goal that it would start to negative impact the quality of my story because I was rushing. 

For example, I have this one story that instantly springs to mind. Almost two years ago I wrote this story I nicknamed the autumn story. I write it while on instagram and wrote it in about thirty days. While I was writing, I would also have almost daily word cout updates on my stories and snippets from my writing. So everyday I had this mindset of I need to write a lot of words to show Instagram that I am writing a lot. I ended up putting this odd pressure on myself to write more for word count and so I ended up rushing through many of the scenes and rushing though the characters so most of the side characters were undeveloped and parts of the story fell flat. I focused so much on the quantity I was writing that I neglected the actual quality of the story. 

Well that didn’t go well. 

I needed to end up taking a quick break from instagram to finish the story and boy did that make a difference. No longer did I feel pressure (which was just from myself) to hit a word count goal. No longer was I rushing through the story. And it made such a world of difference. To this day the ending of the autumn story is my absolute favorite ending I think I have ever written. I took my time. I slowed down. I gave writing control over to God and let Him direct my words and what I wrote. That changed everything. 

From that story I learned to take breaks from social media and things that would distract me negatively from slowing down and writing quality stories. 

Another reason I have been thinking about this more is seeing the content that goes not only in teen books that should not be in teen books in my opinion but even the bad content that I see being written and poured not only into middle grade fiction but into children’s stories and children’s books. So much so, I need to do research on the books my siblings bring home from the library becuse of language and sexctual content and topics that my beliefs go against and that goes against what my family believes. 

Seeing this shift in the media, because there had been a shift in recent years and it's more and more in mainstream stories for young people, young children even. And that honestly makes me mad. It makes me mad that my siblings can go to a library now and pick up a children’s book they think is harmless and now there is bad words and language in the story. That frustrates me. 

What happened to quality stories? Stories that are wonderfully written? Stories that teach valuable lessons? Stories that have good morals and values? Where did all these books go? Why aren’t there books like that being made anymore? 

Yes, there are many wonderful books but honestly, at least for me, it can be really hard to find that—especially children’s stories—that are modern. Most are older and classics or at least 30 plus years old. I now there are some but I miss those good old stories. Stories like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Charlotte’s web, Alikce’s Adventures in Wonderland, Out of The Silent Planet and more. Stories that are comforting because they have good lessons and are written well and are quality stories. 

Its hard to find books like that nowadays. Hard but not impossible. 

This is a challenge I have had with myself. I’m not saying I’m going to be the next C.S. Lewis or Jane Aunsten. Not at all. But I want to write good quality stories like they did. Strong stories that readers love and come back to again and again and again because they love it so much they don’t care if they have already read it ten times because the story is so good. 

So something I’ve been doing wit my writing that is a bit different than what I normally do, and something I’ve been really loving, is slowing down with my writing. Not having any word count goals or deadlines. The only goal I have really is to write and edit about two-ish chapters a week so on Fridays I can read around my story to my family. We have done this twice now and it has been so so fun! I love reading my story to them and its giving me more time to soak in the story and not rush because I know they will be reading what I wrote within a few days or a week. 

Let me say, having this focus on slowing down has given me time and space to let my story grow and not be rushed. I’m able to slow down and take time in a setting to describe the room and furnishings and the foods and smells and colors and sights and beauty in the setting. I’ve been able to write down rods I feel excited and proud about. Words I can’t wait to read to my family. 

I feel like this will actually save me so much time later on especially in the editing process. I know I will have more to work on and edit. All stories do. But I am finding myself not rushing so I can actually take the time to write what I want to say and convey what I am seeing in my mind. If that is a chapter length then thats what I’ll do. If that’s only a sentence or a single paragraph then that is what I’ll work on even for an hour to get the right words out. Because I am not rushing or pushing for a goal or word count goal, I feel like I am able to write words I am proud of and words that won’t need to be edited much. I feel like my story is getting tighter and stronger and won’t need any major rewrites because I am taking my time and keeping it strong as I go. Of corse I will have probably a few rounds of edits but as far as drafts and major plot rewrites, I feel like with this process it will end up saving me a lot of time in the future because I’m getting what I want to say out now and I am working through and fixing problems as I see them instead of waiting as I often would do before. 

I was chatting with a friend about this and I do want to quickly say that, slowing down this process of prioritizing having quality words, it is not for you to overthink and be paralyzed because you don’t know the right thing to say. No. That is not what I want you to take from this. 

I want this to be a freeing message that gives you permission, maybe if you are a writer like me, to slow down and take your time and enjoy this story of yours. At the same time don’t overthink it too much. The point is to slow down and not rush. 

I also want to say, while I'm saying it is good to have quality fiction and stories that is not necessarily to say now you must go write flowery or purple prose. If it is too flowery and over the top with the descriptions then you can end up losing your reader the same if the story is too rushed for them to follow or enjoy your story. 

When a line or scene is flowery that is when there (at least how I’ve heard it described) as it uses big words, too many metaphors and everything has too much meaning so really it loses meaning and it takes a while to read or is hard to read. 

I think it is a talent to describe something beautiful but that is simple. Have can you describe what is going on simply? Focus on using clear descript words and also focusing on specifics. You don’t need to describe everything but do desire the things that bring your story to life or things that stand out to the character or that is important to the word and story. 

I think it is really a talent when people can use simple words and descriptions that paint such a beautiful vivid word. That is what you are doing as a writer. You are turning and stringing together words to them make them into a story alive and vivid in the minds of your readers. 

Taking something invisible and thigh words making it visible to your readers. Sometimes, most of the time, the simple descript are the clearest. 

That’s what I invite you to do today! Focus on making quality stories and slowing down and enjoying your writing! 

I'll see you all soon! 

Love, 

Moriyah 

Want to listen to the FULL podcast episode with more details, examples and tips? Listen below!

Recommended podcast episodes: 

🎙️ Episode on writing role models for children and YA readers  https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2023/11/episode-06-importance-of-creating-role-models.html 

🎙️ Episode on writing themes that point to God: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2024/05/writing-themes-that-point-to-god.html 

🎙️ Episode with The Oils Market: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2024/05/i-was-guest-on-oils-market-show.html 

🎙️ Episode on why we should read the Bible everyday: https://fablerosemc.blogspot.com/2024/04/episode-19-why-should-we-read-bible.html