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Writing On a Deadline?

By Michael Stelzner

Last month, I asked the question, “Is your writing better when you are busy?”

I must confess that I was thinking we are better writers when things are slow. My rationale was that a good stew takes time to cook.

I am beginning to rethink this…

I have a strange and looming deadline. It happens to not have a clear fixed date, but the deadline is coming quickly.

What am I talking about?

The delivery of our third daughter.

Any day now, my life is going to change in a major way.

AND, interestingly my writing has improved significantly. I am much more focused and task oriented. When I sit to write, the words immediately flow. It just seems I am in a grove.
WHY?

I think the reality of a major event or deadline forced me to notch it up a level. I am firing on all cylinders and my writing machine is cranking.

My question to you: Why does it take an event like this to get really motivated to write and perform well? Your thoughts?

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 6:21 am and is filed under Freelance Writing, Writing White Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • You summed it up when you said that there is more reality to writing on a deadline. I'd make this analogy: When I was in High School, I wanted to play the drums. I had been practicing for a while, but only when I put myself in front of people in various school and dance bands did I start focusing and learning to play.

    Deadlines creates pressure. Pressure brings focus. Focus raises performance.

    This doesn't work for everyone. Some fold under any pressure. But those with ability tend to rise to the occasion.
  • I always ask for a deadline from a client; it's like the wind in my sails. I need to focus on a destination, plan on how to get there with all my other "ships" on the go, and most of all, to give me a sense of duty and responsibility to guide that ship into port. Without a deadline, I am dead in the water.

    ~Graham
  • Whitney - Are you inside my head? You are SO right! Thanks! :) - Mike
  • Why do people decide to undertake major housecleaning a couple of days before they go on vacation? They don't want to come home to a messy house (especially if they're spending a week in immaculate hotel rooms), are afraid they won't have the energy to tackle the cleaning when they get home, and just don't know what life is going to throw at them.

    In your case, your subconscious knows from experience what the next eight weeks (in particular) are going to have in store for you. An exhausted woman sore from giving birth. A completely dependent infant who won't be sleeping through the night. Older children who need attention so they won't feel ignored because of the baby. Relatives and friends calling and wanting to come by to see the baby.

    Somehow, in all this racket, you're supposed to keep the business going.

    Your brain will be too tired to be creative. So it's chucking out ideas and finished product now, in the hopes that you'll have the sense to write things down while the iron's hot. Even if you only outline the ideas now, filling the outlines in later to create blog posts and whatnot will be decidedly easier than trying to come up with material out of thin air.
  • Matthew and Stephan - Thanks for your thoughts! - Mike
  • I find its the change. The rut gives no inspiration. Life throwing me for a loop or me making a conscious effort to change something in my life causes a flood of things to write about. New connections built in the brain are buzzing.
  • hehe Great question...I guess people like procrastinating or it's built into our DNA to put things off or not do them to our best ability unless we have to focus on it. I heard a good quote "It's not the goal of success that drives us but rather the idea of failure that motivates us". I started writing a bunch of articles and when I'm focused I can pump out a couple quality ones per day. It's hard to get motivated though so ride the wave while your hyped up ;)
  • Hi Wayne and Justin;

    Thanks for your comments!

    I think that self imposed deadlines are harder to keep than those coming from outside of you.

    Justin, in your case, you are motivated by the dollar it sounds. Nothing wrong with that.

    Mike
  • Deadlines themselves do not necessarily motivate me, but rather future obligations. A company that sets a deadline for me carries very little weight, but if I am in a cash crunch and need money I'll work diligently until I make enough to cover the money I need. I guess for me it is a question of personal versus business pressures and only one motivates me.
  • I'm not a fan of "why". I'd rather answer what about deadlines improve performance.

    I have always been deadline driven. Even for my blog posts I have a self imposed deadline of midnight. A deadline has some closure to it. Whether internal or external a deadline gives you a nice time to step away for a bit then go back to look at what you've written.

    The flip side is that I'm sure independent of your deadlines you've developed the daily habit of sitting down to write. Without applying the discipline to develop your "chops" it doesn't matter that deadlines are flying you won't have gotten all the "junk" out so that you can focus and get in the groove.

    Not to mention the eustress aspect or personality type that lends itself to working well under pressure.

    Thanks for the thoughts. It has inspired more internal deadlines! ;)
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