By Debby Giusti
If you’re like me, you’ve probably grappled
with the Quality vs Quantity question. At first, my focus was on improving the
quality of my writing. I studied craft and worked to ensure my stories had all
the key facets that would make them shine. After writing a number of books, my pace
increased, although quality was still more important to me than my rate of production.
Some of you may remember a study on the
quantity/quality issue (ART & FEAR, David Bayles and Ted Orland, Image Continuum,
1993) I referenced in a previous blog. An art instructor divided her students
into two groups. One group was told to work on only one piece of art during the
entire semester. That piece of art would be submitted at the end of class for a
grade. In the other section, the students were told to produce as much art as
they could in the same time period. Those who created numerous works of art
ended up with higher grades, and their work was far superior to the group that
spent all semester on one project. From the study, it’s easy to deduce that
increasing production, or quantity, also improves quality.
One of my writing goals this year has been to
increase my production. In keeping with that goal, I wrote two novellas for the
Seeker collections, in addition to my contracted Love Inspired Suspense stories.
The deadlines kept me focused and on track, and the novellas provided a
refreshing change of pace between the longer stories. The only setback came
when the story line for my September 2016 book took longer than usual to
develop. For whatever reason, the characters wouldn’t cooperate and getting the
first three chapters and synopsis into a final form ate up precious time that I
needed to complete the rest of the story.
That's when I attended the Georgia Romance
Writers’ Moonlight and Magnolias Conference and knew God was in charge when I stumbled
into Candace Havens’ Fast Draft workshop on how to write a book in a month. Candace provides lots of motivation for those
who sign up for her online program, and I’ll only touch on a few of the strategies
she provided in her workshop. Basically, she said to write twenty pages a day
for two weeks without editing or revising to produce a Fast Draft. During the
second two weeks, edit thirty pages a day. Accountability is important, and she
suggests tackling the month with other writers and sharing daily page counts.
Thankfully, I had completed the synopsis and first
three chapters, which for me are always the most difficult to write, but with a
deadline looming—only a month away—I took what I needed from her workshop and quickly
started working. To write fast, I used my AlphaSmart, a portable word processor.
Each of its eight files holds 25 pages of text when downloaded to my computer
and formatted into Courier New, 12 font, double-spaced pages, with one inch
margins. My 55,000-word Love Inspired Suspense manuscripts run about 325 pages,
or 13 AlphaSmart files. That meant I needed to fill an AlphaSmart file--or write
25 pages—every day.
To speed me along, I set my kitchen timer for
30 minute intervals and wrote non-stop until I heard it ding. Then I’d break for water, a quick stretch, and start writing
again. The days passed quickly, and my Fast Draft was completed rather easily by
the end of the first two weeks.
The second two weeks were much more intensive.
I edited a minimum of six hours a day. Some sections of the story required more
work than others, and I soon found that I couldn’t use Candace’s 30 page/day
editing formula. Rather, I worked back and forth through the pages,
approximating my progress and praying I could complete the revisions on
time. What seemed, at the beginning of
the process, to be a Mission Impossible turned into a success. By the end of the month, I had a completed
manuscript that was submitted on time.
Towards the end of my Fast Draft month, I saw a
quote on Facebook attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi that intrigued me:
 |
| Oldest known portrait of St. Francis, dating to 1223, located in St. Benedict's Cave in Subiaco. (PD-US) |
We start by doing what is necessary. For me
that was creating the story line and writing the synopsis that I used as a
guide. Then I did what was possible. I wrote 25 pages a day. Turning the rough
draft into a polished story was the hardest step in the process. At first, the
task seemed almost impossible, but by working through the pages, day after day,
the story came to life.
My goal was to write faster so I could be
become more productive. In the future, I plan to use Fast Draft to write the
bulk of the story, but I’ll allot more time for edits and revisions.
To unleash creativity, give yourself permission
to write without editing. Don’t think of the impossible, think of what’s
necessary. That’s the key. Ask yourself, “What can I do today?” Accomplish that
first task and then move on to the next goal. Repetition/quantity improves
ability/quality. Soon we’re achieving tasks we never imagined possible … and
eventually, we’ll be doing the impossible and doing it well.
What’s your impossible? How can you break it
down into steps to make it achievable? Remember #NOLIMITS!
Wishing you abundant blessings,
Debby Giusti
PLAIN TRUTH
By Debby Giusti
AMISH COUNTRY SECRETS
When widowed doctor Ella Jacobsen is attacked
and left for dead in her childrens’ clinic, the peace she’s found in Georgia’s
Amish country is shattered. Someone is after something in her clinic and wants
her out of the way...but what are they looking for? Ella knows only that her
life is in the hands of army special agent Zach Swain. Zach can’t resist the
vulnerable but headstrong Ella, who stares down danger to care for the people
she loves. With one look, the loner soldier goes from investigator to
protector. To save Ella, he must uncover the secrets that swirl around the
idyllic community. And he needs to do it fast, because Ella is running out of
time.
Order HERE!
