Comments on: If creativity can’t be rushed, why do deadlines work?

By: Tracey

Tracey — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:14:25 +0000

I enjoy working under pressure. I am the type of person who slacks and fools around until it’s crunch time. I find that when I have a deadline looming, that will be the time I bit the bullet and actually get work done.

If there is no goal, or deadline, I find that I fool around or am not focused or work on other things that aren’t quite so important.

I guess as people we all work differently, and the goal is to know how you work and structure your life and schedule accordingly to what best works for you.

By: Renos Georgiou

Renos Georgiou — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:58:29 +0000

I have just finished doing the nearly same. I have an As English Literature coursework to hand in tomorow and have had weeks to finish. I just find that I can’t fully concentrate 100% unless I know that I’m running out of time. This makes me work really hard for a short amount of time before a hand in.

I know it works seen as I got 1 mark less than a girl who takes her time and works really hard. I think it’s just that all the ideas can be made and thought about and the night before is just rearranging it all into the best combination.

Now just have to go to school and hand it in, sit through a few lessons in a zombie state and get some sleep.
For some reason I feel carefree after a night without sleep. Probably because I can’t think too much

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:58:11 +0000

Dear Beth,

I’m not sure if creativity can be rushed, but I know that you can be rushed.

There is a lot of anxiety with a deadline. Either the anxiety was there the whole time and you just didn’t deal with it until you started writing, or you didn’t have any anxiety until the last second and then your fight or flight response was to begin writing.

I believe that the creativity was there the whole time. It is in you and there are several ways to get it to come out. The way you allowed it to exit was by encountering a very anxious situation. This is how I accomplished those kinds of tasks in college. With caffeine, some over eating, and the whole night ahead of me. Looking back on it, it definitely seems like a pretty unhealthy way to get creativity to come out.

What is creativity? Is it something we have control over or this intangible and magical part of ourselves that comes out at random and sometimes inopportune times?

If you believe the 2nd, it will be the 2nd. If you believe it is something that you have control over, I bet that it will be easier to write for that next deadline.

I know that not everybody is all about affirmations and the Law of Attraction and whatnot, but if you are able to really see yourself writing creatively whenever you feel like it, and telling yourself that this is possible, I think that the rushing may no longer be necessary.

Just my two cents .

Sincerely,
Bryan

By: Rebecca Smith

Rebecca Smith — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:32:14 +0000

I’m with you, Beth!

I am certainly NOT a procrastinator, but I always build in a lot of “mulling” time to each writing project. My best ideas come to me while driving, in the shower, when I’m walking the dog … rarely while I’m glued to the keyboard.

I think clients hire us because we produce creative, well-written copy. And that takes time!

By: Blog About Publishing: Life on Avenue Z « TSTC Publishing’s Book Business Blog

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:40:33 +0000

[...] writes about are cool new Web-based tools, insights while traveling on different assignments, and staying up all night to meet another client deadline. But, what I like even more is how well she integrates those posts with other ones of a more [...]

By: Bill Machi

Bill Machi — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:58:17 +0000

To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
Leonard Bernstein

By: Diane L. Harris

Diane L. Harris — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:29:03 +0000

Creativity can be forced; bring enough pressure to bear and something has to come out. However well I can work under pressure, though, I know I do better work without it. I call myself a “first line” writer. I will think and jot and play with and throw out many ideas before writing a piece, but, with longer pieces anyway, I never feel right about actually sitting down to write through a draft until I have the first line. I may know all my points, but can’t get to the end until I have a beginning that feels good to me.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:10:27 +0000

Nice article Beth. I never have this happen to me though. Ever. I am a machine. Complete with little buttons that clients can push to get the right responses out of me. Being a machine though, does make me quite cold and calculating. Epiphany schmiphany – with the right input, I always deliver the right output. So it’s nice to see how other, more human writers operate. he he he

By: Papa

Papa — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:08:12 +0000

Sounds like procrastination to me, with a shot of rationalization as a chaser.

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:49:01 +0000

While it’s common for me to work well on deadline, I find that if I spend time along the way, tossing ideas into a rough draft, the final product comes out better.

It’s strange to note that in many cases little of the rough draft makes it into the final copy, but I’ve come to realize that, for me, part of ‘good’ writing is the recognition of ‘bad’ writing, and it helps to get it out of my system by putting it down on paper.

That also happens mentally, as I think of possible angles or ideas and then quickly discard them, but the writing is more visual, and seeing the words can lead me to the next/better/correct approach.

I also find that arbitrary deadlines can work – “I’m not going out tonight until this post is finished.”