Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Handling the pressure of deadlines

This is my second post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group started by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We meet on the first Wednesday of every month. Click here for the other posts.

Sometime back, I read in an author’s interview that a writer gets the maximum time to write the first book. After a contract is signed with a publisher the author is under pressure for the second book. So, the only book a writer writes without pressure is the first one. The first book also takes the longest time to get written as it’s that time the writer is trying to find his/her voice, get the story in shape, get a grip on his or her writing, get familiar with story and character arcs etc.

Working under  pressure, trying to meet  a deadline is my biggest fear. I get anxiety attacks when the word deadline is mentioned.  And I also have the bad habit of procrastinating. I keep postponing things, until I have to do it in a hurry. Whenever I am commissioned to write a story for a Penguin Anthology, though I get weeks to write the story, it’s always in the last week of the deadline I rush to write that story down with the clock ticking against me. Though I am trying to get rid of that habit, it still troubles me.

Sometimes I try to convince myself with the thought that instead of building pressure and reducing my creativity, deadlines may work in the opposite way, that under pressure I may produce the best and my fastest work. This thought cheers me up. Writers/authors all over the world work under deadlines, so why not me.

Does working under deadlines make you break out into a sweat? Do you feel capable of handling pressure of a ticking clock? Have any of you written a book for a publisher in a short span of time. I would love your advice on working under pressure, on meeting deadlines.

26 comments:

  1. I haven't had to yet, but since I hate to keep others waiting, I'm hopeful I'll be able to handle the pressure. I'd love to get published and find out :D

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  2. I think deadlines are a good thing overall. Procrastination is such an easy trap to fall into otherwise (for me anyway).

    mood
    Moody Writing

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  3. I work on deadline at my work as an attorney very well. I have over 200 cases right now and we have a tickle system to get a list each day of what needs to be worked on. I have my work in piles in my office too--not too many--to remind me what to work on.

    But writing a book on a deadline terrifies me. I pray I can do it if I ever get the chance. Great post Rachna and awesome that you work with Penguin.

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  4. Good topic Rachna. I try to plan and prepare as much as possible so that deadlines are not as intimidating.

    With your thoughts on an author's first book, I heard author John Grisham talk about his favorite book: his first one. He said he wrote it free from deadlines and pressure and was able to pour his heart into the work--he has not been able to do that since he became famous.

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  5. Deadlines help me. They push me to concentrate and get the writing done. I could procrastinate, Rachna. So I'm ever thankful for the deadlines. But that's just it. I don't let them push me into a corner. I schedule the writing so I know I'll get meet the deadline with a few days to spare. :0)

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  6. I'm such a bad procrastinator that I used to have to have deadlines in order to write anything (this was mainly in high school and college). I do keep self-imposed deadlines, and I find them helpful, but it can be very stressful to be nearing that deadline and not be done. With the idea of deadlines, that's why I'm trying to write books two and three in my trilogy before book one comes out (or is even ready to send to a publisher). That way, I at least have the raw materials to work with if I am on deadline.

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  7. Since I'm a self-published author, I don't have that kind of pressure. But I have worked under deadlines out in the business world. Procrastination just puts you under more pressure. I would suggest using a calendar and set daily goals, giving yourself plenty of time to complete the project if something else gets in the way.

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  8. My worst fear too....I cant cook, paint or write under pressure at all.

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  9. What works for you Rachna? What does your heart say? How are you wired? Only you can answer that question for yourself.

    Forget what the publishers and the industry and whatever the general story that is buzzing around out there is saying. Your soul knows what thrills it. Trust it and go with that.

    A while back, a well known American news reporter on one of the nightly news journals did a segment on just this. To procrastinate or not to procrastinate. The gist of the issue was who was more productive? The procrastinators or those who didn't wait until the last minute. There seemed no definitive answer in the end. In fact, the journalist broke from the segment and admitted that she, herself, was a procrastinator and she was at her best when faced with a tight deadline. The journalist, also very well known, said that he couldn't wait until the last minute. That he had to have his stories finished well before the deadline.

    As for me, no deadlines please. Let me and muse work through the creative process. We'll do just fine together without any artificial barriers. I'm quite capable of putting a mountain of pressure on my shoulders without some CEO doing it for me.

    Deadlines make my blood pressure spike. Besides, they're not fun for me. Life is too short for having deadlines. :)

    As one bumper sticker says it, "bark less, wag more!"

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  10. Deadlines are weird. I'm self published so I don't have any other than the ones I create for myself. I do set goals and deadlines for myself, and I do feel increased stress when I fall behind. However that stress is also a motivator to keep on schedule and see projects through. It's very easy to just take a day off instead of getting 2,000 more words written.

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  11. Yes, it certainly feels like my first book is taking forever and I hope the second one is quicker. Intuitively, it will be, for all the reasons you list.
    I'm one of those rare people that likes to start tasks well ahead of a deadline, but I agree, there are certainly those who can only produce creative, inspired work when the deadline is looming. If you'd like, you could perhaps try to make a start (structure? outline? rough draft?) well in advance, but if you're one of those people who can only write when the chips are down, that seems like something perhaps to embrace... Although, I do realize that's easy for me to say :)

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  12. My publisher only contracts one book at a time, although they did give a timeframe of when they wanted to see my second and third books. Deadlines at work don't frighten me, but ones for books make me nervous.

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  13. I'm not sure how I'd feel. Generally speaking, I'm good at meeting deadlines. When I was much younger and in high school and college, I was always doing things at the last minute. Now that I'm much older and retired, I'm only under self-imposed pressure, and I don't put much of that on myself.

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  14. I actually work well on deadlines. If let to my own devices I tend to procrastinate hence why my first novel is in need of majors edits and I can't seem to get started on them. So, the answer is to get one published and then other people will keep me accountable for the rest of my writing career. Sounds like a good idea. Keep at it and realize at the end of the day, it is your name and your career. It's up to you to get going on it.

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  15. Working with a deadline on creative work can be frustrating!

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  16. I love deadlines. I've always worked under pressure so without them it seems kind of weirs to me. But I'm also able to get stuff done on my own too.

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  17. Hi friends, I am trying not to let fear of deadlines get to me. If writers the world over can write with the sword of deadlines hanging over them, then so can I :)

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  18. I'm best with a deadline 'cause I'm a procrastinator too. I've been procrastinating beginning a new WIP for 5 months! lol

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  19. I've not written for a publisher in a short time span, but have done so for editors. On one hand, I almost like a time crunch, for it can help me produce something good quickly. But at other times it is stressful. I guess it just depends on what I am writing. :)

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  20. Deadlines used to make me very uncomfortable. Now I do my best to spread things out, working hard as soon as I know something is due. Pacing myself is key.

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  21. Hi, Rachna,
    I'm not proud of it, but like you, I tend to leave things until the last minute and then I do them in a mad rush, or close to it, no matter how well I plan.

    Seems I do my best work when the deadline is looming. My only redeeming quality is that I love planning and plan a lot, down to deadline dates, but I flirt dangerously close to missing them.

    Hope you do better at working with your deadlines.

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  22. Funny, I wrote my first book faster than my second and third and it clocked in at over 140K. Each subsequent book has taken me longer to write, but none were under a deadline. I kind of like deadlines, though. Nerdy as I am, I try to meet deadlines early, but I have never been under true writing pressure with a contract hanging over my head. Scary, but exciting.

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  23. I love deadlines. Weird, huh? I just work so much better with pressure. I do have to be organized though, and not procrastinate too much. I make daily word count goals and stick to them.

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  24. I tend to procrastinate too. Trying to stop it. The nearest thing I can eqaute to this is writing flash fiction pieces for blogfests. They always get done at the last minute!

    Even for self-publishers, without a contract, I would say the same sort of pressure exists. You need to get the next book out there to keep your profile up. And hopefully someone is waiting for it! Luckily I've got progressively faster with each book I've written. I spent 3 years on my first one, and no way do I ever want to do that again.

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  25. I'll put off even my own self imposed deadlines until I feel the pressure. Something about me needs that cooker feeling I guess. I always intend on getting an early start.

    Maybe we both just need that extra incentive to sit down and do nothing else but the promised writing.

    .......dhole

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  26. I write best under pressure. If I have no real deadline I procrastinate!

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