Having the ability to lay many eggs, a hen can be said to be a prolific animal.
Prolific , from the Latin proles , is an adjective that refers to someone who has the virtue of procreating . The term is also used to name someone who is the author or creator of many works and things .
For example: "The chicken is a very prolific animal since it lays many eggs" , "I am not a prolific writer, I have only published three books in ten years" , "The Uruguayan singer is one of the most prolific artists today, since he releases at least one album a year" .
Considerations on the notion of prolific
The number of creations that justifies calling someone prolific is not exact and depends on the field or context. A music band that releases one album per year will be considered prolific, while an actor who participates in some work (be it television, theater or film) with the same frequency is unlikely to be rated in the same way.
An actor is expected to have continuity before the public, while a musical group can release an album every so often since it remains active in different ways (with concerts or participating in processes that do not materialize before the public, such as the recording of an album).
A prolific author is one who wrote a large number of works.
Writers who developed numerous works
There are many writers who, throughout their literary career, have developed numerous works. However, among those who are considered the most prolific today are the following:
• Lope de Vega (Madrid 1562 – 1635). The distinguished author of the Spanish Golden Age , known for works such as “La dama boba” (1613) or “El perro del hortelano” (1613), has the privilege of being one of those who produced the most works. Specifically, scholars indicate that from his pen came more than 3,000 sonnets, 1,800 plays, 4 short novels or 9 epic poems, among others.
• Barbara Cartland (Lancaster 1901 – Hatfield 2000). This British author specialised in the romantic genre and managed to get into the Guinness Book of Records precisely because of her prolific nature. In just one year she managed to publish a total of 24 novels.
• Corín Tellado (El Franco 1927 – Gijón 2009). One of the most distinguished writers of Spanish literature of all time in the romantic genre was this one, which is also one of the best-selling. She is considered one of the most prolific writers in the country, having managed to produce a total of 4,000 novels.
Isaac Asimov, Enid Blyton, Lauran Paine, Prentiss Ingraham, Rolf Kalmuczak o Nicolae Iorga son otros de los autores que están considerados como los más prolíficos de la Historia gracias al importante número de obras que realizaron a lo largo de su trayectoria. Aunque tampoco habría que olvidar a Georges Simenon o Mary Faulkner.
Prolific, quantity and quality
It is important to note that prolific is not always positive, since quantity can often undermine quality .
A novelist who invests three years of work into the creation of a book is likely to produce a work of greater literary merit than one who spends only two months writing a publication of similar length.