As a new author hoping to develop healthy ongoing writing habits amidst my other roles, I was delighted to hear the leading voice in business As a new author aiming to cultivate healthy, ongoing writing habits amidst my other roles, I was thrilled to hear the leading voice in business psychology, Adam Grant (whose books like “Originals” and “Give and Take” have influenced my thinking), interview the now legendary master of the legal thriller, John Grisham, about what inspires his writing on his podcast “WorkLife”.
Midway through the podcast, Grant asks a question that had me leaning in based on an example from Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s book “Timequake”.
“Swoopers and Bashers… which one is your style?”
To explain what the difference is, let me quote from Vonnegut directly:
“Swoopers write a story quickly, higgledy-piggledy, crinkum-crankum, any which way. Then they go over it again painstakingly, fixing everything that is just plain awful or doesn’t work. Bashers go one sentence at a time, getting it exactly right before they go on to the next one. When they’re done they’re done.1”
Grisham says that he is more of a basher. He says that his goal is to write 100 words, and sometimes that may take anywhere between 2-5 hours. Grisham says he’s more of a bashers. He mentions his aim is to write 100 words, which can sometimes take him 2 to 5 hours. Occasionally, he writes 2000 words. After finishing the last sentence, he won’t think about it until the next day, when he reads what he’s written and makes many edits to tidy it up.
I began to think about my writing process as I am in the editing process of my own book, and how knowing that there is a better way that I hope to integrate into my future works. I’ve definitely gone for the Swooper approach for this first book of mine “Make Room”, but now that I am in the pile of editing, I can look to employ some of the Basher style in the future. There are however pros and cons for either style.
Swoopers have a tendency to write fast and loose, getting the entire draft down without stopping to fix anything. They return later to revise heavily.
Pros: Maintains creative flow and momentum. Captures raw ideas and emotion before they fade. Prevents perfectionism from killing the project. Often produces more authentic voice.
Cons: Creates mountains of editing work later. Can be demoralising to face a messy first draft. May reinforce bad habits through repetition. Requires strong revision skills.
Bashers carefully craft each sentence before progressing, polishing as they go.
Pros: Creates cleaner first drafts. Ensures quality control throughout. Can be more efficient overall—requiring less rewriting. Suitable for those who think through writing.
Cons: Easily sidetracked by perfectionism. Loses creative momentum. Harder to see the big picture. Can overthink and lose authentic voice. Makes it tough to “kill your darlings” since you’ve already invested so much.
When you create and edit, are you a SWOOPER or a BASHER? I would love to hear what works for you.
¹ Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997), 24. ↩︎