The Writing Life
Nobody – not even the prodigies – awakes one morning and finds that they’re capable of doing quality work. The prodigies may have a head start with talent, but every one – every one – has to put in time and effort. They have to do the work, and they have to do it with love, attention, and consistency.
Everyone has filler words. One of mine is “just.” I’m conscious of it because it was brought to my attention during a poetry workshop several years ago. Before that, I didn’t even notice it. It was a “filler” in much the same way that everyone has their own version of a verbal pause. No one notices either the written or verbal pauses unless they’re noticed or corrected by another.
In a perfect world, quality work would preempt speedy work in every case. The world is not perfect. Therefore, speedy work often overrules quality work.
According to tradition, you can have work that is fast and cheap, cheap and good, or fast and good. You cannot, however, have work that embodies all three traits. Something is necessarily lost in seeking one of the attributes.
If you want to get better at what you do, you have to have three qualities: love, attention, and consistency. If you want to meet the goals you’ve set, you need the same three things. If you want someone to know you care for them, you also need those three things. You have to give that person love and attention and do so with consistency.