Creators vs. Curators vs. Critters

All too often I hear my fellow writers say they are not writing as much as they “should be,” implying there is a standard for how much we should be writing every day. Frankly, this is a ton of crap. The other day I posted on Instagram, “200 words a day. Even if they’re sh*tty and you wind up deleting them it’s still better than no words at all.” Right now, writing 200 words is feasible and sustainable.

See, there are three types of writers in this world: creators, curators, and the critters in between.

Creators focus purely on writing and take on tasks that keep these creative juices flowing. Because they want to put all their creative energy into perfecting their craft and generating as much material as they possibly can. Think Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and Ben Percy. Yes, these authors are active within the literary community. Yes at one point they all had day jobs. But they have always been first and foremost writers, whose main priority is to get words on paper.

Curators—though they may be writers—are more focused on cultivating ideas and turning them into tangible, marketable things. Think literary agents, editors, publicists, marketers, booksellers, literary magazine staffers, and so on. Of course, there will always be exceptions, but for most of those who fall into this category, when push comes to shove, they will focus their free time and creative energy on helping their author(s) develop their manuscript, build publicity, and/or network with other publishing professionals. And they are completely content with letting their creative projects take a back seat.

As for the critters in between. Some days they are creators, while others they are curators. There is a part of their brain that is reserved for the creator and another for the curator. But although each side uses different muscles, so to speak, they feed off one another. For instance, if these critters aren’t writing, they’re editing friends’ work. If they’re not critiquing or writing, they’re reading a book they plan to review, which, in turn, rekindles their motivation to move forward on one of their creative projects. And if they’re not doing any of these things they are at an event, mingling and meeting people to foster new connections within the community. In other words, critters are the type of writers that need to channel their energy into multiple outlets in order to keep moving forward.

The category you fall into (and believe me it can change) will have an enormous impact on how you write. A creator is more than likely going to write the most consistently and theoretically wrack up the highest word count. Curators may bang out a consistent word count but it will probably be less than a creator. Meanwhile, a critter's word count and consistency will fluctuate dramatically depending on where their focus currently resides. And even then, how often you write and how many words you get on paper will significantly vary based on your writing process, your editing tendencies, lifestyle, responsibilities, priorities, etc.

So rather than focus so much on how many words you “should” write and comparing yourselves to other writers you see popping off on social media (and trust me I’ve been guilty of this too), think about what kind of writer you are and what your process looks like. Focus on what works for you, what is feasible, and, above all, what is sustainable given your current circumstances and then roll with it.