Embracing Deadlines

All writers have to deal with deadlines – it’s simply a part of the job. But it’s amazing how much your perspective on writing can change when you embrace these deadlines rather than dreading them.

This morning I woke up to an email from the editor of a magazine I’m writing for. She sent it at 4:30 in the morning, which should tell you just how important it was. She asked if I could possibly write an “advertorial” (500-600 words) by 10:30, because the magazine was due to the printer by noon and still needed to go through corporate approvals.

Despite everything working against me at that moment (and there were many things, believe me, including the fact that it was almost nine o’ clock, I was still at home, over a hundred miles away from Waco, where I needed to be by noon, and I had absolutely no idea what an advertorial was), I agreed.

And while I am always willing to help out someone in need, part of the reason is that I love a good challenge, and this one just seemed to fall in my lap.

So I hopped out of bed, threw on some clothes, packed my bag, and made my way to the Starbucks across the street. And then I wrote. Well, actually first I looked up advertorials and tried to figure out what in the world I was doing, and then I wrote.

I finished at 10:12, read over it, and sent it. The whole process was a rush. I enjoyed it, even though I was hurried, and I really wasn’t stressed at all because I knew I could do it. And the deadline forced me to tighten my writing the first time around, not allowing for me to waver back and forth about word choice or other things that I normally obsess over. It was freeing, and reassuring, especially when I got the response that it was well done, which came with a huge thank you.

2 comments

  1. I agree with you entirely. I find that I work and write better when I’m under pressure of a tight deadline. One trick that I’ve used in the past is to self-impose strict deadlines in order to keep me focused and my writing tight and confident.

  2. I’m trying to imagine it, and indeed it does sound freeing. Especially the part about fretting over word . . . um . . . decision-making 😉 You have just inspired me to set myself a timed flash challenge tomorrow!

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