[This is one of my absolute favorite writing quotes.] Ray Bradbury once said: "I believe that eventually quantity will make up for quality. How so? Michelangelo's, da Vinci's, Tintoretto's billion sketches, the quantitative, prepared them for the qualitative, single sketches further down the line, single portraits, single landscapes of incredible control and beauty. Quantity gives experience. From experience alone can come quality."
Do you agree? Why or why not?
Also, be sure to check out my guest post over at Ali Cross's blog today and find out the five things you need to have a successful critique group!
9 comments:
Ohh, awesome quote! I completely agree. The more I write, the more all the "rules" sink in.
So nice to connect with you in cyberland! :)
I agree. I've seen the progress people make from the first draft to the fourth and the quality is greatly improved.
I like that. It's a different way to look at things but works for me with writing. The longer and more I've written stories etc, I know I have improved my quality.
What a great quote! Food for thought. That must be related to the "you must write a million words" theory.
I think it's true though, quality comes from quantity, from long hard work - and also from feedback.
Sarah - Welcome! Glad you like the quote. This is one that keeps me going when I'm wondering if my work has quality.
Bethany - Having recently (re)revised my last book, it was cool to see how I was able to make it even better than the time before.
Terri - Yes, I love how that quote applies to a lot of things in life, including writing. I think jobs, parenting, art, etc. will all produce quality if we put in the quantity of time.
Margo - Thanks for the reminder about feedback, so true. We can work hard, but really we can only go so far ourselves as the writers. We need that feedback, too.
Put it in that perspective and quantity does sound like the better way to start. I say, do all that you can and the quality will show eventually.
New follower--hopped over from Ali's blog :)
David - Welcome! Thanks for following.
I TOTALLY agree. I write fast - but it means that I have a lot of projects that need a LOT of work. But, I feel like it's preparing me to write something that I've always wanted to write - something really incredible. It's all using what ya got to make yourself better.
In "Outliers" Malcolm Gladwell claims that almost all very successful people have put in at least 10,000 hours of practice before suceeding. Even the apparently "over-night" successes! And Thomas Edison said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. I think Bradbury said it more gracefully, though. And I'm afraid they're all right!
Post a Comment