The Pressure To Produce Faster

If you are an author–at least in today’s Indie world–you have likely been thinking about speed. How fast can you write?

This is a question that paralyzes me.

Before I started publishing, I spent months writing books. The first YA book I wrote (Death’s Awakening) took over a year to write, and much longer to actually edit and publish. I felt pressure to make my work the very best it could be. I studied books on writing and read books by my favorite authors, taking notes on what I could do to improve my craft.

I still read books on craft and strive to become a better writer, but the main pressure I feel has less to do with quality and everything to do with timing. In today’s crowded publishing world, one of the best ways to get your books out there in a big way is to write them as fast as possible. Algorithms and reader habits heavily favor fast releases. The authors I know who are writing and publishing a book in a single series at least once every 3 months are growing their readership and their income at a steady pace.

Those who are publishing a new book every six weeks? Whew, I’m watching them zoom by me on the charts. And those publishing even faster??? One book a month or every three weeks? Many of those authors are making tens of thousands of dollars a month and launching books directly into the Top 100 at nearly every sales outlet. Success is coming fast because the books are coming fast.

I wish I could write that fast. I wish I could have that kind of success.

But when I take a deep, hard look at myself and my work, I know that I simply cannot produce quality books at that speed. Every once in a while, a story will grab me and the words will come faster than I expected. That happened for me with Sacrifice Me in 2014. I couldn’t get the words out fast enough! Most of the time, however, my books take time. (And honestly, if I continued to produce that quickly all the time, I’d be emotionally burned out in a matter of months!)

Emerald Darkness, the Peachville High Demons continuation, I’m working on right now, has taken months longer than expected. I know in terms of story quality, I’m doing the right thing for me. I’m taking the time I need to make this book the very best book I can write.

But in terms of my career growth, I constantly feel like a failure. In the back of my mind, I’m telling myself that if I could just write faster, I could have so much more. I could reach so many more readers. If I could simply produce faster, everything would change.

The pressure is self-imposed to a great extent. In reality, I know it takes a lot more than fast releases to make a success of a series. Especially long term success. But the pressure is also real. I know my fans are waiting for this book, because I get a dozen messages a week asking when the book is coming out. I know faster releases are a real business strategy right now, and that it’s absolutely true that if I could write faster, I would probably see greater success.

Still, if I continue to concentrate on that pressure, I’m likely to end up curled up in a ball in the corner of my office with my thumb in my mouth. It’s debilitating to put such crushing expectations on myself. On my art! How can I expect to produce something meaningful and kick-ass when I’m so stressed out I can barely breathe?

So today, I’m making a promise to myself and to my readers.

I am going to do my best to stop worrying about how long it’s taking me to write the best book I can. Instead, I am going to focus only on the quality of what I’m writing. I’m going to focus on being true to my story and my own personal journey.

I am going to wake up every day and remind myself that I am lucky enough to live my dream of being a full-time writer. The whole reason I write is because it gives me joy and feeds my soul. If I cancel out the good with negative thinking and stress over not producing fast enough, I may as well stop writing altogether.

Yes, writing fast can be a great way to build up a writing career in the short term. But what about long term success? Ten years from now, will it matter how long it took me to write Emerald Darkness? Or will the quality of the book matter more? There’s no doubt in my mind that quality will win every time.

Now, when a reader picks up my Beautiful Demons box set and reads through the entire series in a matter of weeks, they have no idea that it took me eleven months to write the final book in that series. Yes, it was a source of great worry and stress back in 2012 when I was desperately trying to balance my writing career with being pregnant and being a new mom. But in the long run, once the book was finished and out there, all that mattered was that it was a satisfying ending to the series.

When a new reader discovers the series now, the speed at which I wrote it doesn’t even cross their mind. All they care about is whether the book keeps them up all night, desperate to find out what happens next.

I need to remind myself of this every single day of my life.

If you are someone who can produce quality books at lightning speed, you are very lucky and talented and the world is currently your oyster. I envy you. But I am not you. And I need to stop trying to be.

All I can be is me.

From this moment forward, I’m choosing to focus on the joy of writing. As my books become more complex, I’m going to rejoice in the exploration of the story instead of getting frustrated with my progress.

Here is my promise to all my readers out there. It may take me a few months, or even as long as a year or two in some cases, to write the book you’ve been waiting for, but when it’s done and in your hands, I promise it will always be the very best book I could give to you. I will always pour my heart into every word and hand you something I can be proud of.

I have a feeling my true fans wouldn’t have it any other way.