Writing fast or slow

[Brutal_One]

Not fast or slow in the story telling but fast or slow in the writing.

I thought I had hung up my Lit Erotica pen. I realised as well as the main story series, which I concluded I also has a related series that were more short stories but linked with the main theme.

In part I know there has to be some erotica content. That was never the issue. I can follow on but can try some longer pieces and some different ideas. This works with the short story series

I believe if I spend more time in the writing - maybe over months the piece will be better. Typically I usually write the stories quickly. For this new direction I already have the entire plot mapped out, it leverages some existing characters but this time it will leave some behind and focus on fewer but more 3D characters.

Thoughts?

Brutal One

 

[MsNatalie99]

For me: I was always told "learn to do it right, before you do it right quick." Speed comes with repitition. I can write a 3,000 word essay for school in a single sitting. I've got my facts, my statement, and away I go. The same word count in crative writing, it could be days. Either way, my goal is the same. Produce something of quality. Speed, is second. There's no point in doing something fast, if it wasn't done right.

 

[Voboy]

I doubt it can be generalized.

Most of my best stories were written quickly and polished minimally. For myself, that's the best I can tell you. The stories that take awhile seldom do as well here, nor do I look at them with the same kind of fondness.

Stories should flow well. That's the bottom line. For me, it's easiest to maintain that flow if I write quickly and keep the finished product closest to the original wording.

 

[KeithD]

Speed varies with me, but, yes, the more quickly drafted ones are usually the better ones, in my view.

 

[lovecraft68]

There's an expression Speed Kills. In Martial art, in sports, its a positive saying. In pretty much anything else its a warning

 

[HeyAll]

I generally try to write as fast as possible. Keeps the monentum going. Then move on to the next story.

One of the downsides of writing slowly is that sometimes I forget what happened earlier and it could lead to repitition, thinking I need to explain something again.

 

[NewOldGuy77]

Not fast or slow in the story telling but fast or slow in the writing.

I thought I had hung up my Lit Erotica pen. I realised as well as the main story series, which I concluded I also has a related series that were more short stories but linked with the main theme.

In part I know there has to be some erotica content. That was never the issue. I can follow on but can try some longer pieces and some different ideas. This works with the short story series

I believe if I spend more time in the writing - maybe over months the piece will be better. Typically I usually write the stories quickly. For this new direction I already have the entire plot mapped out, it leverages some existing characters but this time it will leave some behind and focus on fewer but more 3D characters.

Thoughts?

Brutal One

Stories ebb and flow for me. I write organically, seldom do I map out a story start-to-finish. Sometimes I get a complete vision for a short story, my heart is 100% in it and the words just pour out; I finish in days. On my longer stories I usually start fast, then reach a point where I need to take time to re-tune if I don't like where it's going, and that may take months. The important thing is that I have to like my characters. I can't just mechanically write for writing's sake.

 

[NewOldGuy77]

For me: I was always told "learn to do it right, before you do it right quick." Speed comes with repitition. I can write a 3,000 word essay for school in a single sitting. I've got my facts, my statement, and away I go. The same word count in crative writing, it could be days. Either way, my goal is the same. Produce something of quality. Speed, is second. There's no point in doing something fast, if it wasn't done right.

I find it's really all about telling a compelling story. Speed is irrelevant if you're not engaging the reader in a well-told tale/poem.

 

[SamScribble]

I tend to favour short stories - which I tend to write quickly and then polish slowly. But there are exceptions to every 'rule'.

 

[ElectricBlue]

One of my best stories (my definition) was conceived, written and edited in a total time of eleven hours in five sessions, for 8k words.

My longest story, 104k words, was written over ten months in I have no idea how many sessions. The first mentioned story was written about a quarter of the way through the second. Two months later, still writing the long thing, I wrote a completely separate 34k story.

For me, there is no consistent output rate, coz writing isn't the only thing I do.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Mine vary. The key is the voices and thoughts of the characters. Once I know them well, I can write them quickly, but getting to that point can take forever.

So I've managed some quick stories with Adrian after his series, though one with his partner Dan narrating was trickier. Ali became easy to write in her second story, Richie wasn't supposed to be in Laura's series but barged in and was easy to write, and moved the plot along for me. Laura was way more difficult to get to know despite being a main character in two series, but finally I got to know her properly, with a rant coming easily from her - not that that is published yet, but it enabled me to get the previous chapters to work. And she first appeared in a draft in March 2020...

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

I just wrote my first story in years. 8k words in maybe half a dozen sessions over a couple of weeks when I could find the time. Would have been faster if not for real life intrusions.

By natural inclination, I’m terrible at drafting. If I don’t stop myself, I’ll rework and rework as I go instead of writing all the way through to the end and fixing things later. So writing fast is a bit of a coping mechanism to actually make me finish anything.

I think it also helps me to have multiple projects on the go at once so I don’t get bogged down. I’ve got four much longer narrative, slow burn pieces that I’m plotting out, but in the meantime I’ve got a list of shorter, semi-autobiographical one offs that I can work through much more quickly so I can get the satisfaction of finishing something while I chip away at the bigger ones.

 

[RowanWrites]

I love reading this thread because it gives a hint onto two different sides of my writing --

Sometimes I write quickly, because the "vision is upon me" and it just flows. Some of my best stuff has come that way.

Sometimes I write slowly, thoughtfully, carefully, with lots of backtracking and editing to make sure that things that things are set up correctly.

Sometimes I write quickly, enthusiastically pumping out absolute drivel.

Sometimes I write slowly, painfully squeezing out useless garbage.

 

[MsNatalie99]

Sometimes I write slowly, painfully squeezing out useless garbage.

Who's squeezing out garbage? Only kidding, don't answer that. I know you meant me.

 

[RowanWrites]

Oh... I'm sure we've all been there...

 

[MsNatalie99]

Oh... I'm sure we've all been there...

Holy crap! You did mean me. Ouch. You cut me Rowan, you cut me deep.

 

[RowanWrites]

Nooooo! I mean every single one of us. And most especially me. Especially me.

I actually burned everything I ever wrote a couple of years ago. Fifteen cardboard boxes of stupendous garbage.

I am sure, somewhere, someone has written more and worse garbage than I have. I don't claim to be even the best at being the worst. But by God it can add up.

 

[MsNatalie99]

I hear you. I deleted my Alt. Felt like I needed a shower every time I posted.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Nooooo! I mean every single one of us. And most especially me. Especially me.

I actually burned everything I ever wrote a couple of years ago. Fifteen cardboard boxes of stupendous garbage.

I am sure, somewhere, someone has written more and worse garbage than I have. I don't claim to be even the best at being the worst. But by God it can add up.

I spent nearly a decade working on a novel, writing myself in circles, trashing it and rewriting over and over again, before I finally realised that it was never going to come together. Destroyed the lot, had a minor nervous breakdown, and didn’t do anything with words for years unless it was copywriting or editing for work. Smut was what got me back into writing.

 

[Brutal_One]

Thanks for the comments all. I was probably in danger of overthinking it. Story ideas come to me easily thankfully and I can usually get the story down fast too. In particular with known characters with a backstory and relationships that comes but some neat or surprising reveals. I am transitioning too into a new story series with a new but smaller list of new characters.

i think I agree - just write and get the story down fast. It’s not going to make a significant difference to just spend longer. The new story will be done in a couple of days. Think will end up being about 3 to 4 lit pages in total so a decent lengh.

Brutal One

 

[Brutal_One]

Submitted! I guess I proved my point.

Brutal One

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Some days the words just tumble out of my fingers, other days it's a struggle just to write one word.

There have been days that I have pounded out 10,000 words. Were they good words? I don't know. The readers seemed to like them.

Average nowadays is about 1,500 before I just become tired of the entire thing. But I'm back at it the next day hoping for a good day.

 

[SimonDoom]

My writing pace varies wildly. But it's most enjoyable when I write relatively quickly--when I force myself to sit down, give myself a chunk of time, and just let the words flow. When that happens I can write 2000 words or more in an hour.

If your schedule allows it, I think the best writing strategy is to allocate a portion of every single day to write a certain amount. Whatever that amount is, if you stick to it you can be amazingly prolific. It just takes discipline. I am NOT a disciplined writer, but I've found that on those unusual occasions when I exercise discipline I get good results.

 

[Duleigh]

In part I know there has to be some erotica content. That was never the issue. I can follow on but can try some longer pieces and some different ideas. This works with the short story series

There doesn't have to be erotic content. If you're writing a long multi chapter tale, just post it under novel/novella category and fire away.

Recently I had a fan fic story come to mind, so I wrote it. I loved every moment about writing that story, I cannot wait to write a sequel. One story, two months, three episodes, 84,500 words. Each of those 25,000+ word episodes only had one sex scene. I made sure it was a good scene, but just one and the readers love it.

Currently I'm posting another story, 12 chapters, I may run 100,000+ total words, and the best reactions I've gotten is the chapter with no sex scenes (the characters are still too young). That's not to say that I don't have any 2 page "strokers." Readers enjoy them, and I enjoy cranking them out (pun intended).

What I'm saying is just enjoy what you're doing, and it looks like you are. Good on ya!

The ONLY advice I can give you is, if you prowl the forums and are opinionated, get a different log-in for the forums. I've seen people "1 bombing" writers' stories because they don't share their personal opinion on the forums, so they drag the writers' story ratings down.

 

[Blind_Justice]

When the muse is gracious, I can crank out a 104,000 word novel in two weeks. That one turned out spectacularly and even won me a spot on a Reader's Choice award podium here on Lit.

Before I started my Patreon, I used to work and rework my stories for months, even years. Then there was a phase where I knocked out a 15,000- to 25,000-word chapter a month, with pretty decent scores. But when things go wrong, I'm looking at two shorter pieces in as many years.

I've tried writing to keep the gears spinning, a thousand words a day, but the results were abysmal. The fire wasn't there. I'll probably can salvage some ideas and scenes but it would be quicker to do a rewrite than try and polish these plot zombies.