Should Creators Focus on Quality or Quantity?

In creative pursuits, quality will come as a result of quantity. Get intelligent reps in your field and share your work before you think you’re ready.

Writer Ryan Holiday said ​in an interview​ that he doesn’t put much stock in the "quality over quantity" excuse when creating.

You know the one. You say you want to line everything up first. To get everything ready so that it’s just right before releasing it to the world.

You say you want to painstakingly get everything right before you release your masterpiece.

That song you’re writing. That article. That new creative project.

Just a little more time. It’s not good enough. I’m not ready yet.

The problem, Holiday says, is that this excuse doesn’t work in virtually any other field.

“Imagine a comedian who says, ‘I’m really focused on quality instead of quantity, so I don’t do a lot of stage time. I just don’t go up very often.’ You’d be like, you’re a shitty stand up comic.”

That’s because you become a better comedian by being on stage. That’s where you learn which jokes land and how to shape set-up and delivery.

You become a better writer by shipping your pieces. That’s where you learn what resonates with your reader and how to hold their attention.

You become a better musician by performing for people. That’s how you learn to channel the electricity of performance. How to connect with and move your audience.

But what has Holiday done, anyway? He’s published 12 books, with millions of copies sold. He’s written 2 children’s books. He’s written an email newsletter, The Daily Stoic, every day for eight years. He’s produced hundreds of podcast episodes. Not to mention the books he’s ghostwritten and dozens of articles and essays in various media outlets. And he’s only 37 years old.

Too often, the people who say they are going for quality over quantity are using that as an excuse. The way to know if they're using quality as an excuse easy. Just look at the work they produces.

“When I look at what those people make,” Holiday says, “I very rarely see the quality. They’re like, ‘This book took me five years.’ And I’m like, where? Show me five years of work in this thing.”

“Because if that were true, I think it would either be a lot better or I think it would have come out a lot faster, right?”

The quality comes from doing the practice. So go on stage. Ship the piece. Stop waiting and start doing the work.