Is your writing better when under deadline pressure? 
In a recent blog post, white paper guru Michael Stelzner discusses how writing when busy, or on a tight deadline. And Stelzner is busy: he and his wife are expecting their third daughter.
Under the kinds of time constraints that accompany a new baby, Stelzner found that:
[T]he reality of a major event or deadline forced me to notch it up a level. I am firing on all cylinders and my writing machine is cranking.
I often find that I do some of my better work while facing a looming deadline. My writing is often more fluid, sponteneous, and truer to my voice than a lot of the work that I take my time on and allow to gestate. Of course, there are alway some things that could be better — like certain turns of phrase or better-developed arguments.
Come to think of it, perhaps being able to write when literally down to the wire is a result of a different kind of gestation process. The idea, the content, and structure have all been swirling around in your brain for a while and maybe having to write with a deadline looming is the final squeeze that brings everything together.
What are your experiences writing to deadline? Has your work been strong or has it suffered? Feel free to leave a comment.
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Comments
I don’t think of it as writing under pressure so much as the need for accountability. It is easy to go from task to task, filling my day, and come to the end of it wondering why I got no writing done. When I have a deadline then I am more likely to sit down and write. Perhaps it is merely semantics. I also prefer “due date” to deadline. I am hard enough on myself and my writing. Gentle euphamisms abound!
Thanks for covering this.
The baby has not come yet
and I have been on high alert for about a month.
I think my writing engine has been in high gear too long and I need a rest.
Mike