the space restrictions of print can be weirdly freeing, but even more than that...

[Irelia20150604]

The quotation comes from Opinion | Becoming a Columnist in the Age of Trump

Quotation: Michelle: I agree that the space restrictions of print can be weirdly freeing, but even more than that, I think the time restrictions are a luxury. At Slate, sometimes something would happen and I’d try to get a piece up three hours later. I like the idea of being forced to slow down and let my thoughts develop. At the same time, I hope some of what I’ve learned about writing for the web will prove useful as the Times goes ever more digital.
==
Hi everyone! How should I understand the bold sentence? My guess is that it basically means "the space restrictions of print is loose, but the time restrictions can be even looser".

 

[Trisia]

Hi,

I'm doing a lot of guesswork here, but there you go:
space restrictions of print: one of the differences between online and printed articles is that in print the article length needs to fit the space allotted to your column so the word count is very precise. They're saying that however counter-intuitive it may seem, having those restrictions can feel liberating.
(Maybe because once you reach a certain point that's it and there's no more editing or modifying to do so you let go. Not sure)

time restrictions are a luxury: seems to me that they're in fact looser than at her former place of employment, where she had to react very fast to current events.

 

[Irelia20150604]

thank you for your explanation.

 

[sdgraham]

space restrictions of print: one of the differences between online and printed articles is that in print the article length needs to fit the space allotted to your column so the word count is very precise. They're saying that however counter-intuitive it may seem, having those restrictions can feel liberating.

Normally, good editing produces better thought-out and written material as well as concise ones.

As an example, a Pulitzer-prize-wing executive at the news agency where I spent my working life once quipped: "Maybe we should charge more for shorter stories."