Writing, fast and slow

Sometimes the writing flows like a fast, steady stream. The stories gush forth nearly fully formed and require only minor modifications before they’re ready to ship. That is how my short story “Hypnotist” came about. I wrote the whole thing in a single setting, then returned to it for a few revisions.

Other times, the writing takes longer. It is not like a stream, but more like occasional sprinkles on parched desert that feeds the earth just enough to sustain essential life. That is how my recently published creative nonfiction piece “The Things My Father Used to Eat” came about. It grew from a series of drips and drops interrupted by long dry spells.

Most of the time, probably, the writing isn’t either/or, fast or slow, but some combination: a quick burst of an idea put to paper or screen, then set aside, revisited, reworked, steadily. For this both/and approach, both fast and slow, the liquid metaphor fails to hold water, so to speak. Maybe it’s more like cooking. Maybe it’s more like flash-frying ingredients for a dish that will require longer time to bake, or marinating the meat for a long time before putting it into the smoker.

I would love to be able to write fast always. That’s the journalism instinct coming out of me. Get the story down quickly, meet the deadline, and move on to the next task.

But writing fiction and creative non-fiction doesn’t seem to work that way. Not for me, at least.

What about you? Do you write fast, slow, or a combination of the two?

Image via Pexels.