How About Some Restraint?

I’m all on board with the ideas here of constancy and moderation. I’m sold on the notion of mindful writing. And I understand that the advice here is to assist in the development of a more efficient writing process. But I have my misgivings. There does seem to be an underlying assumption throughout these chapters (and perhaps the entire book) that production matters most, the assumption that all writers wish to have (or ought to desire) a prolific output. Beneath the surface of these suggestions for moderation and patience is the call to adhere to the Joyce Carol Oates school of writerly output. Follow habits X, Y and Z and your writing will be better… and there will be more of it. Why do we need more writing? What’s wrong with a little less? What about restraint? I know that question seems counter-intuitive to the inner world of academia and securing tenure, but perhaps we ought to reevaluate our definition of quality. Should we really be the Louis L’Amour’s of academic articles? Seriously?

Why no talk of prolonged restraint? Mexican writer Juan Rulfo spent ten years writing Pedro Páramo…in his head. He was a tire salesman and wrote the novel walking door-to-door, memorizing lines of dialogue, toying with the voices of multiple narrators, etc. until it became second nature. For ten years he resisted writing a single word (at least, that's how the rumor goes and what he said in interviews). Then he binged the novel out. Nearly all Latin American authors credit Pedro Páramo as the inspiration behind the modern magical realist movement. I dunno. I think the goal is that have that one great book. Personal preference. I look at prolific authors (critical and creative) with a constant production and they just don’t measure up. You can tell they rushed. Of course, the flip-side isn’t true either. But I just don’t see prolific production of material and quality as going hand-in-hand. Reading Boice just makes me feel that rampant production is the end-game. I know we’re supposed to play the publishing game for tenure, but…

Am I simply in a smarmy mood (probably)? Am I missing the boat (depends)? Am I not reading Boice closely (guilty)? Is this just useless ideological rambling (rhetorical question)? Sigh.