The Slow Way: Remembering Why You Started in the First Place
I finally finished Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder. It took me forever just because of life and kids and work. But a slow read is still a read.
Sometimes we forget that a slow work, a slow accomplishment, a slow journey… still has the same merit as a fast one. We still get a paycheck. We still achieve a goal. We still aim for the same destination.
At the end of Snyder’s book, she has a “thanks” page, which is not new for authors. (The new thing is that I actually read it. I don’t always read these.)
Do you know what impressed me?
She introduced her thanks page with an admission: The book took her a long time to write — multiple years, in fact.
I’ve been ruminating this story of people she thanked, friends who read her early drafts, an editor who stuck with her, and an agent who never wavered in commitment…
Sometimes the slow way is a good way. Society won’t tell us that. Publishers may not communicate that (although they too are slow). Friends around you won’t understand it.
But here are five reasons the slow work can be good work when it comes to writing:
- Taking the slow route on a project means you’re bound to catch more mistakes.
If you write a novel in two months, you will inevitably miss nuances of character, voice, and rich plot elements. But a novel that’s written in two years? You have time to make changes, do rewrites, and evaluate every aspect of the story — either while you write or after you finish a draft.
- A slow work builds momentum gradually.
Yes, it’s easy to “lose steam” when your craft is built upon Time. However, if you can hang in there, your commitment goes in one of two directions: yes, I am committed to this work, or no, I’m putting it aside.
Sometimes the slow work reveals we’re doing the wrong work. That is still progress. It leads us closer to the work we’re actually meant to do — the project to which our heart is devoted for the long haul.
- ‘Slow’ rhymes with ‘grow.’ A gradual pursuit will change the story, but it also changes us.
The reason novels or stories get such devoted fan following is that readers become committed to the characters. The fast-moving plot is what engages them, but it’s the life of each character that sustains them.
This same devotion grows in authors who work on the project over time. They “discover” a choice that one of the characters will make that is different than how they might have written it if they took the quick approach.
Authors get to experience the surprise of how a character reveals their own strengths, hopes, weaknesses, or simple humanity. We tend to realize more about ourselves when we spend “deep work” time with our stories.
- The slow approach gives us time to connect with our readers.
Let’s face it. The publishing industry has changed massively in the last 20 years. And authors are expected to do more than they used to for marketing, reaching readers, and connecting with those readers.
Writing over time gives an author multiple chances to share the journey with his reader. Maybe he only has 25 followers on social media, but they are invested in the journey of his craft creation. Those 25 followers are meaningful because they’re the ultimate reader — they don’t need to be convinced to buy the novel; they’re already “all in” once it’s finally in print.
- Slow goals bring a greater depth of satisfaction.
Think about your 10-year-old self trying to master multiplication tables. If math came easily to you, this was not a big deal. You memorized the tables, worked the problems, and — done! But if you struggled with math skills, you had to work hard, over time, to memorize one set of tables at a time. You started with 2s and then 10s, and then maybe back to 5s… and finally, you memorized even the tougher ones like 7s.
Returning to a work that is achieved over time is like finally mastering a skill you’ve tried for years to learn. It just feels like a bigger win.
Even if you only write for yourself and you aren’t sure you will ever pursue publishing, the act of growing your craft slowly adds to your characters’ development, your individual growth, and the growth potential for connecting with others.
