by Esi Aboagye
Writing is slow.
It takes time to whittle words, string sentences, perfect prose, poetry or any medium of writing. More time than most of us creatives would like. Over the years, I’ve wondered if there is anything I can do to speed up my own process. As a prolific pantser, I wondered if more structure or writing to a schedule would improve my output. I’ve tried multiple things to varying levels of success. I’ve tried getting a writing buddy, taking writing classes and even joined a writing group. All to become a better and more efficient writer. But even when the writing is easy and comes freely the writing part still takes time.
I have never considered myself a slow writer when it comes to my short stories and novel-length works. But there is so much more involved in writing than being inspired and pumping out words. The periphery writing process is where I feel slow. The idea, inspired or contrived, comes first. Then, the backbone and shaping of the narrative must be established before the words touch the page. If there is an audience to keep in mind, then it sculpts the orientation of the work. Finally, the actual writing takes place. The internal pressure to write something good is constant, an uncomfortable spectre that hangs over every word I do write. And no first draft is ever enough, there is the editing and re-writing process to take into account as well.
I enjoy instant gratification as much as the next person reared in a digital age but I’m also realizing art and creative expressions can take considerable time. Shortcuts don’t exist. They’re not supposed to. Writers should have the conviction to finish what they set out to write. No matter how long it takes. There are writers who take months or years to finish a novel-length work, and it can still take a lifetime for manuscripts to go through the traditional publishing process.
We don’t need to be experts to carve out the time to write, re-write and write again until we end up with a final product that is worthwhile. Telling stories is a part of human nature, and there are those of us who have a fervent desire to tell and share those stories. Even stories that take a long time to tell. Patience with myself as a writer is also a part of the process and I’m still learning to be okay with it.
In a world that so often operates on instant gratification, it is human-made pursuits that go against the grain. Generative AI attempts to emulate crafts that are solely human, like art and writing. And because AI’s output is fast, its quality is excused by some because it feeds the need for instant gratification. Generative AI has harmful effects on the environment, questionable long-term societal impacts and is built upon theft from real creatives. It is becoming a form of resistance to luxuriate in the slowness of crafts that are human-made. We are the only ones who can tell our own stories, even the ones that take a while to come out.
So, writing is slow. And that’s okay, because as writers the words are our own.
Fin
Esi Aboagye is a Toronto-based writer and aspiring author. She is a University of Toronto alumna with a Master of Information and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. When not reading or writing, Esi can be found exploring bookbinding or guiltily binging reality TV shows. Some of her favourite authors are N.K. Jemisin, Octavia Butler, Fuyumi Ono and Sarah Monette. She admires how these authors explore the fantastical and speculative in worlds so much like, and unlike, our own.
The views and opinions expressed in blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of all WiT members.
