What Happens If You Only Focus on “Quality”?

There’s an old Internet parable, and it goes something like this:

There’s a pottery class.

The teacher divides them into two halves.

He stands up front and raises his left hand.

“This side of the class will solely be judged on the number of pots and sculptures they make this year. The more the better.”

A few murmurs.

Then he raises his right hand.

“This side of the class,” he says, “will solely be judged on the quality of their pottery at the end of the year.”

He folds his hands.

“Get to work.”

Can you guess what happens?

You probably know what happens even if you don’t like to believe it.

The quantity side wins.

Not because they made the most pots. They win because the quality of their pottery beat the side that was solely focused on quality.

How quantity has evolved

Back in the old days, let’s say the 90s and before, quantity was called “rough drafts.”

You made them all of the time, but you didn’t show them often.

Maybe your roommates, maybe your teacher, maybe your friends, maybe your writing group if you were in one.

But then something changed with Internet publishing.

You could publish everything. Even your rough drafts.

Bad ideas, good ideas, everything was out there.

Yet, many writers didn’t listen. They treated Internet publishing and blogging the same as a “final draft.”

And too many are still stuck here.

The job that needs to be done

I’m in marketing for a living. But I came up through blogging, content marketing, and let’s just say publishing a lot.

Not everything was perfect, but it didn’t matter — because it had a job to do.

It’s the same with your online writing. There’s a job to be done.

And you have to decide what it is. If it is to be a perfect writer, looking for bestseller accolades and to be a well-respected literary writer, then sure don’t publish everything. But know that’s a different game. You know with literary journals and submissions and agents. The gatekeepers are in full effect.

However, let’s say your job is to make initial connections. Then shorter writing will do. And articles like this one. And then you can cook up your big masterpiece on the side.

But let’s say this — what if the short articles help you get to the masterpiece? Help you create building blocks that form the foundation of your master piece? Then do you see the point and connection?

Too often when people look down on “quantity,” they don’t see the means to the end. They don’t understand that it’s not necessarily the finished product, but a means of getting there.

That’s the pottery. Each article and each crafted tweet is part of the larger sculpture, the larger project.

Keep going. Keep creating.

If you only focus on “quality” you’re missing the key building blocks and the key reps to getting to your goal.

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