Friday, March 2, 2012

Guest Blog: "Deadly Deadlines or Power Prompter" by Sherry Gloag


Who, in their right mind, would want to work to a deadline? Well for many they have no choice.  It is part of their job description (so perhaps they did have a choice, after all.) But surprisingly many people thrive on working in just that way.  It’s not that they are disorganized, or forgetful, it’s not that they are slackers, and hope to pass the job to someone else before they have to approach it themselves.

No.  For many people the approaching deadline is the incentive they need to get ‘those juices’ flowing.  They are people who enjoy working under pressure to meet a deadline, and if done in the right way, they deliberately apply pressure to inspire themselves into action, even massive action. For these people putting themselves under pressure stretches them personally and breaks through the limits they’ve set themselves.

Most authors know all about deadlines, and believe me there are more of them than just turning in a manuscript on time. So why, you might ask, do they do it if they can avoid it? Well, sometimes they can’t.  Sometimes it is the process that creates the deadlines, but in many cases a little bit of organisation could avoid the additional stress created by looming deadlines.  But, and as ever there is a ‘but’ here.  Not a proven one, but an interesting one, never-the-less.

Authors, writers, are creative people, who have to provide hooks and conflicts in their stories to hold their readers’ interest.  Is it possible, on some subliminal level, they frequently work to the wire themselves because of the environs of their writing?

While adrenaline is mainly associated with the ‘fight or flight’ scenario, it is also naturally produced in high-stress or physically exhilarating situations, which is why so many people actually derive pleasure from leaving everything ‘till the last moment.
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The Gasquet Princes novels from Sherry, From Now Until Forever and His Chosen Bride from Astraea Press, are now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She can be contacted at her websiteblog, Facebook, or Twitter accounts.

3 comments:

Sherry Gloag said...

:-) Thank you for inviting me to guest on your blog today, Rick.

Rick Bylina said...

"I feel the deadlines looming;
they're filling up my planner.
I'm stuck with so much writing;
can't escape my computer.

"I'm stuck in deadline prison,
And I hang my head and cry."


Deadlines were easier to deal with when I was in Corporate America, now, as an author/freelance writer, deadlines seem fuzzier. The art gets in the way of the product. And that may be a good two-edged sword.

http://sedonawriter.tripod.com said...

Good observation how deadlines can be used constructively. I almost miss (not!) the federal judges who used to impose strict deadlines in my former life as an AUSA (Asst U.S. Atty) as they always spurned me on to produce my best legal briefs under pressure. Now I use the local writers group I facilate by convincing myself that I cannot attend a meeting without bringing a submission.
Peter Bernhardt, Author, The Stasi File: Opera and Espionage - A Deadly Combination; Amazon/Amazon Kindle; Quarter Finalist: 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award; Sequel: Teya's Kiss; http://sedonawriter.tripod.com - http://sedonaauthor.blogspot.com