Yep, the 16th of the month has once again rolled around, which means it’s my turn at bat over at the Novel Spaces blog.
This time, I babble on about deadlines, and how–generally speaking–I try to use them as a motivational tool when I’m writing. A lot of times, the pressure of a looming deadline will get my creative juices a’flowin’, whether it’s for a contracted writing project like a novel, or even something so seemingly benign as my weekly “Ask Dayton” segment for the G&T Show.
Novel Spaces: I Love the Smell of A Deadline In the Morning!
Enjoy (I hope)!
My Novel Spaces archive:
- “The Social Media Minefield – Watch Your Step” – April 2012
- “My Wife Let Me Write This.” – March 2012
- “Another Word for ‘Freelance’ Is…?” – February 2012
- “Writers Don’t Wait. They Write!” – January 2012
- “NaNoWriMo – It’s Not You, Its Me” – December 2011
- “They’re Young, They Write…and They Inspire!” – November 2011
- “Write Proudly!” – October 2011
- “Music for My Fingers” – September 2011
- “Is This Seat Taken?” – August 2011
- “Reviews: You Can’t Win” – June 2011
- “Collaboration” (or “How to Write With Your Best Friend and Not Kill Each Other”) – February 2010
A lot of times, the pressure of a looming deadline will get my creative juices a’flowin’…
Totally.
You mentioned that without a deadline you “meander.” For myself, I call it “farting around.” I think it’s the same basic thing. Without a deadline I produce copy, but it’s unsatisfying to me. I’d try different approaches, I’ll rewrite scenes over and over in search of the perfect, and ultimately I’m either unhappy with the final result or I leave behind a miserable mess of pages. Basically, I second guess everything that I do without a deadline.
But with a deadline…
It focuses the mind. I can’t fart around. I have to produce copy. I don’t have a choice. I don’t have the time to second-guess myself. I have to pick the direction and barrel on full bore.
And somewhat, what I produce like that works. In that moment, I find my Zen place. James Lipton would say that in that moment I stop acting like a writer and I start being like a writer.
It takes that deadline to get me there.
Yep. Meander. Farting around. Dicking off. Whatever you want to call it.
I’m the same way. The deadline forces me not to wallow around, second-guessing myself. I also trust my editor(s) to tell me where I’ve gone off the rails or missed something. Once I settle into that mindset, I can crank some serious word count.
It’s almost like my fingers and brain just establish a direct connection and everything else is forgotten. My wife will tell you that she’s come down to my home office to talk to me, and I never even knew she was there because I was so far into that “zone” was oblivious to everything around me. She’s learned to respect that…..