"for high quality, sporadic writers, payment might mean more frequent writing." And more frequent writing might mean lower-quality writing. There are certainly

"for high quality, sporadic writers, payment might mean more frequent writing." And more frequent writing might mean lower-quality writing. There are certainly writers I'd pay to write less - to get the same ideas not buried under so many words. If a magazine had its staff writers produce, say, a maximum 500 words a day, the quality would skyrocket and I'd pay much more for it. Look at the quality of the New Yorker - it's not because they have the best writers (although they do), it's because they let them work for months on a single piece.