✍️ Desk of Amy Suto: Quality Over Quantity

Slow, artful work is as important as ever in today's disposable society.

Happy Sunday! In today’s newsletter, you’ll read about…

✍️ The importance of slowness in the creative process

☕️ Why high-quality work is more valuable in a “just post it” world

😎 How to balance making money as a writer with honoring the work

📖 3-Minute Story: Quality Over Quantity

I’ve written seven novels and published zero of them — until I started writing Let Me Be Your Ghost, my literary debut that’s being released one chapter at a time on Substack.

I used to write novels at the speed of light for National Novel Writing Month, a 30-day writing sprint that happens each year in November. While this revelry of writing marathons helped me hone my craft as a writer, it doesn’t hold space in my current writing schedule.

No, if you’re reading Let Me Be Your Ghost you know the chapters come out slowly, a steady drip of twists and turns.

There’s a fragile balancing act that exists between making art frequently enough to learn and grow — while not just hitting “publish” on any unedited word vomit.

Progress is important, but so is putting out work you’re proud of. And writing memorable pieces starts with honoring the work — and the process.

The creative process demands consistency, slowness, and good inputs:

• Consistency: are you showing up every day, priming your subconscious to do some heavy lifting for you when you’re not at your computer?

• Slowness: rushing is violence. Are you giving the work space to breathe, and not overstuffing your days with too many projects or too much noise? There’s a reason writers seek refuge in the woods where sound is dampened by warm bark and soft pine needles.

• Good inputs: are you reading books and content that inspire you? Or are you spending too much time watching TV or consuming content that’s bringing too much negativity into your life?

Let your work marinate. Let it fill your soul. Let it fill the time it needs and deserves.

That’s the only way it will mean something to your reader.

✨ 2 Quotes to Inspire You

• “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” — Joseph Campbell

• “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.” — Thomas Merton

✍️ 1 Journal Prompt for Reflection

• In what areas are you rushing for quantity when you could have quality?

Feel free to share your reflections in the comments:

💻 New Blog Posts on AmySuto.com

• Book Review: The Guest by Emma Cline

• Working Remotely in Bariloche, Argentina (Patagonia)

• Working Remotely in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

📚 New Chapters of My Thriller Novel Let Me Be Your Ghost

• chapter six // inside the lion’s den

• Author’s Note #2: Procrastination is a Part of the Writing Process

• chapter five // to the stars, or else

📸 Photo of the Week: In Transit

In between the aesthetic photos and coffee shots are moments from post-travel days, hair messy from a day in transit.

Follow me on X/Twitter or Instagram for more!

⚡️ Upcoming Wednesday Edition: 6 Tips for Hitting Your Writing Goals in 2024

This Wednesday, ✍️ From the Desk of Amy Suto paid subscribers will get an exclusive issue about…

✨ How to beat writer’s block — forever

🧪 What it means to keep your inspiration pipeline flowing

📚 Finish that book, for real this year

Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,

-Amy

p.s. I create my newsletter voiceovers and my podcast episodes using the tool Wondercraft AI, a text-to-speech tool that speaks in YOUR voice. 🎙 Use my code SUTO50 or this link to get 50% off your Wondercraft AI subscription! (paid/affiliate link)