This is the important part:

[valarltd]

Originally posted by elfs at This is the important part:

Josh Kaufmann's The First 20 Hours is a pretty good book, but he quotes from another book that really tells the whole story in three paragaphs. Once you know how to learn, this is what you need to know:

A ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an A, forty pounds a B, and so on. Those being graded on “quality,” however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an A.

Well, come grading time a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work and learning from their mistakes, the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

Now, go forth, do good work.

Angel says: This jibes nicely with ERB's advice to write a short story every week for a year. Because it is highly unlikely you will produce 52 bad shorts.

Comments

The D-Man Checks In

[(Anonymous)]

An amusing albeit tedious little work of fiction, this tale of the ceramics teacher, not to mention incredible, unless you can name this supposed teacher, where he/she worked, and when. Having been a college student, and one who took a Ceramics Art class, to suppose the students tasked with Quality would all have turned out nothing by the end of the term but failed projects & theories is laughable, unless nobody cared about their GPA or their reputation as potters & artists.

It does not take long to generate 50 pounds of pottery, especially if one need not worry about quality & is geared & going merely for quantity.

Were I parked in the Quantity group, once I mastered working the potting wheel & basic form, I'd have been able to easily create 50 pounds of basic junk in 1 week (3-5 class days, working 60-90 minutes/day)... whereupon I would then have stopped working, as I had already secured my "A" & would thereafter skip class to work at other scholastic endeavors also needing my attention--and which required more & better than a mere basic effort... or I would just goof off, sleep, chase skirts, drink, play games, or anything but continue working at something that did not challenge nor inspire me any longer.

Parked in the Quality group, once I mastered working the potting wheel & basic form, I'd have still striven to turn out at least 1 pot or at least 1 experiment on a daily or at least weekly basis until I found my groove (what I was good at), whereupon I would then focus on perfecting that particular technique & style, and I would have worked up to the very last possible minute to ultimately turn in something (the very best of all my finished projects, few as there might be) to try and merit a good grade... and whatever it would be, after so much time & work, while it might not be perfect (an impossible goal in the art world anyhow, as tastes vary too widely) it would be beautiful if not breath-taking.

This tale fails to take into account the all too human tendency to do the bare minimum when it comes to work and then stop. (This is why Communism ultimately fails, as there are no real rewards for excellence; everybody is equal, even when they are not, so--instead of striving for excellence--most Communist citizens just strive for basic survival & maybe escape.) If quantity is all that is expected, minimalism & junk is what shall typically result--worthy of any grunt labor force. If quality is expected, works of art is what shall typically result--worthy of artists, galleries, museums & collectors.

Literature, being an art itself, is no different. Any primate given paper & pen, or clay & water, can turn out quantity. You want stuff people will actually seek out and spend money for? You need quality, and that requires artists who know their craft and who will thus take time & care in creating their (limited) works.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post.

Re: The D-Man Checks In

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

There is the theory that one should write a million words,and throw them away. Then you are ready to start really writing.

This is why I insist on writing, even when I know it's dreck. Because even dreck teaches me something.