Comments on: Are Readers Satisfiers or Optimizers? Should Writers Be Satisfiers or Optimizers?

By: SL Huang (aka MathPencil)

SL Huang (aka MathPencil) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 05:11:18 +0000

Ha! I do admit to being a remarkably picky reader as well. There are definitely sequels I’ve waited for for aaaaaaaaaaaages and when they finally came out I unhappily (and perhaps uncharitably) wished the author in question had spent another year or so re-editing. I’m sure these reader-preferences affect the perfectionism I feel towards releasing my writing, as well — it’s hard (but very beneficial) to remind myself that not everybody has the same reader preferences I do!

By: SL Huang (aka MathPencil)

SL Huang (aka MathPencil) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 05:08:03 +0000

Yeah, I couldn’t imagine producing work that quickly either! *faints* But an interesting point I’ve been considering about the 4-6 week authors is — I’ve seen people say they don’t have respect for their readers because (allegedly) they could have greater quality if they published less often. BUT what that doesn’t take into account is that (1) the readers apparently feel perfectly well respected or they wouldn’t be buying, and (2) if their readers expect a new book every month, delaying for an arguably trivial bump in quality could be construed as disrespecting their waiting readers in a *different* way, and all for the selfishness of an optimizing author. 😉

I think about this with regard to my own work for sure — I’m admittedly a perfectionist, and if I go to the other extreme and start having years-long delays between books because I can’t get things JUST RIGHT, well….*that’s* disrespectful to my readers, too! So I think there’s definitely room for a happy medium here between getting everything absolutely right and publishing at a reasonable speed. (Gah! The perfectionist in me HATES happy mediums!)

It’s definitely something to mull over.

By: SL Huang (aka MathPencil)

SL Huang (aka MathPencil) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 04:54:17 +0000

VERY good points!

I do find that there’s a point beyond which I honestly can’t tell whether I’m making a ms better or worse. That’s where my personal 100 percent lies, btw — in other words, at that point it’s as good as it’s possible for me to get it, because it’s literally impossible for me to improve it and know whether I’m improving it. Not saying whether it’s actually any good on an objective scale, of course. 😉 But yeah, if I kept tweaking beyond that, there is absolutely no guarantee on what the ms would become.

Now, there’s also the question of whether I currently recognize this point correctly or whether it should come sooner. 😉 Hmm, lots to think about.

By: SL Huang (aka MathPencil)

SL Huang (aka MathPencil) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 04:49:25 +0000

Having read your writing, it says that you have complete writer dysmorphia. 😉 😉 😉

By: mclesh

mclesh — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 23:17:11 +0000

Interesting question. I tend to be more impulsive in purchases, so I guess I’m a satisfier. My partner is an optimizer. He examines the item in question, studies Consumer Reports, and sometimes I want to shake him and say: JUST BUY IT ALREADY! But regarding work product, specifically stories, novels, novellas, I tend more to the optimizer side, I think. I’d rather spend the time and effort putting out the best product I can–not only from a writing standpoint, but the finished product. I want to give the reader (consumer) something they won’t regret spending their hard-earned money on.

But, having said that, I think there are categories of books that are more consumables. I know authors who crank out a book every four to six weeks. Their fans expect new releases and consume their books as if they’re going to the movies. So the author and reader have a shared expectation, and that works for them. (Many of these authors are full-time writers, though. I can’t imagine having that kind of output myself.)

I do think it’s important to know when to let go of a project, to stop working on it and either release it or put it in the trunk. (Hopefully, not the trunk.)

Having said all of that, I really have to do some serious revisions to a certain work in progress, and I just haven’t been able to get in the mood.

By: CuriousPuppy

CuriousPuppy — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 16:32:48 +0000

This is so well said, Andrew, and addresses the “BUT…” that popped into my mind as well. What is 100%? Knowing SL as I do, which is to say, a little bit, I’m certain that when she reaches her 100% (which would be my 125%) she feels confident she’s done all she can do, brushes off her hands and strides toward the next challenge. It’s a worthy decisiveness to aspire to, but attaining it feels a bit like climbing K2. Without oxygen.

Of course, artists have to find their own peace in the work they send into the world, whatever that peace may be.

By: Andrew Leon Hudson

Andrew Leon Hudson — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:01:26 +0000

This strikes me as (hopefully, potentially, arguably) a pleasant counterbalance to the charge that self-publishing authors are simply tossing out junk as fast as they can write it, flooding the marketplace with blah blah blah, etc. If a writer is aware of where their most effective cut-off point is, then acting on that knowledge makes perfect sense from various perspectives. Experience will provide that*, and there are plenty of less celebrated success stories than the self-pub headline grabbers who churn out work that clearly satisfies an audience, even if it isn’t Nobel Prize-winning material.

As well as the questionable value of the murderous, sweat-squeezing perfectionalisation demanded in that final 3%, it’s worth pointing out that there’s no guarantee a writer is actually making a story better by striving for THEIR notion of what’s perfect – we are not necessarily better able to see the wood for the trees than anyone else working a job. There’s a line in Six Degree of Separation (the film at least, but I’m guessing it’s in the play that I haven’t seen as well) that describes how a junior school art teacher has a class producing nothing but masterpieces, and her explanation is that “she simply knows when to take their work away from them”.

How easy is it to take our writing away from ourselves? For me, the answer is “not very”, I’ll carry on tweaking words until the sun burns out if I’m not careful. But I’d rather go through life satisfied than optimised, so maybe I should look at my deadlines that way in future.

* a strong relationship with beta-readers or an agent would do it too, of course

By: CowOmNom

CowOmNom — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:38:17 +0000

What does it say when my “Optimizer” standard is so low it’s probably what most people think of as a “Satisfier” standard? Bwurrrrrr *hides*

By: InMyBook

InMyBook — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 00:36:38 +0000

This concept of satisfiers vs optimizers has been helpful to me lately in fighting the perfectionism monster, which in my case leads to paralysis and indecision. Accepting that many projects require a satisfier approach helps with time management and control of stress levels. I think an optimizer approach is appropriate for an author, as long as it does not trigger procrastination and thus limit productivity. I appreciate a well-researched piece of writing that pays strict attention to detail; on the other hand, authors who act as factories, cranking out a string of satisfier- quality novels are not among my favorites.