“It is quality rather than quantity that matters.”
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca
We hear this old phrase often and in regards to a variety of life’s aspects. The most common instance perhaps is pointed at the type of company one keeps, going along with “I’d rather have a few best friends, then a hundred friends I do not know.”
While this phrase, or rather life lesson, is important for the majority of things, it comes into play significantly in writing. As I discussed in my last post, ‘Is Said Dead?’, your book may be four hundred, six hundred, eight hundred, or how ever many pages, but if it is packed with fluff and filler scenes, then the quality is severely diminished. I often find in books I’m reading that drag on forever, that there is a large quantity of words, pages, chapters, or even scenes, but not much quality to them.
Quality in words is not only in referrence to good word choice, but also making sure that every little bit you write is in your book for a reason. It is a bitch to get through a three-hundred page book full of slow, boring, unimportant scenes as it is, I cannot imagine stuck on a seven-hundred page book that is the same way.
This is one of the main issues I have with The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, is that there were well written scenes, ones that really grabbed my attention and kept me reading, but in the end, all the build up and suspected foreshadowing went absolutely no where. Not to mention that end was ridiculously rushed and lacking in the flourish the beginning of the book had.
When I am working on writing my books, I will reread a scene over a dozen times to determine if that scene belongs where it is in the timeline/storyline and if it belongs in the book at all. I would much rather have a fantastic, but short book, then write out hundreds of pages of bullshit just for sheer size.
So, next time you are writing, be sure you keep Seneca’s words in mind.
READING UPDATE:
I am doing my best to like this book, but it has some of the weirdest writing I have read in a while, and not necessarily in a good way.
Anywhere from random sentences to whole scenes that make me just question why they are in the book. For example, the MC notes the specific brand of milk frother being used as background noise, but only describes this amazing, Gothic museum she works in everyday with the same few words.
Again, I do not quit books, so here’s to optimism.
Next book from my TBR is going to be Black Leopard Red Wold by Marlon James. A book with a stunning cover and intriguing premise. Based on African folk lore and history, I am excited to get going on it.
Thanks for reading!
Write. Read. Repeat. 
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