not enough time to fail to get it done

[gurdonark]

I confess to being a deadline-motivated person. I like that I must work to get things done according to "due dates" on a calendar. I used to "cut it close" sometimes, but I rarely do that anymore. Now I plan ahead a bit better, although last night I did have to make an evening Federal Express run.

Sometimes I notice that if I must do something quickly, I don't have time to stress out about it. The resulting product, given some time to proofread and reflect (but far less time than I "need") surpasses, I frequently suspect, the product that results from over-extensive revision.
With limited time, one must cut to the chase. The Lovecraftian tendencies of my serious prose (insofar as flowery prose is concerned rather than body count--my writing has no body count) curb when I must work quickly.

Last week I got a voice mail from someone with the local Chamber of Commerce. I'd been out of town when it arrived, and I saved it after the words "I'm x from the Chamber of Commerce, and you were recommended by y", as I figured it was an invitation to speak at Chamber. I promptly forgot I'd archived the message. Yesterday, it turned out that it was instead an invitation to contribute a short article to the local newsletter. I asked the nice woman over the telephone "When do you need it?". She replied "I need it today".

I immediately began drafting a brief piece explaining to laypeople types of intellectual property. Within forty minutes, I had a draft to show my partner. Within an hour, I e-mailed it to the Chamber of Commerce. I don't think that if I'd had six weeks, I would like it half so well.
I find that often, subject only to correction of grammar, elimination of the trite, and proofreading, my quickest work is my best.

Comments

[thecatinside.livejournal.com]

I also find it is best to work in one short spurt. I like to get each project done quickly, so I can get it over with (not that my work isn't enjoyable, it's just that it's much less stressful to work at once and be finished). I find myself setting many personal deadlines in addition to the ones that come to me from others.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I think I do best that way, too, and I have to remind myself to handle things more "one shot" at a time.

[nancyjane.livejournal.com]

there was a time i think that i was addicted to deadlines. it felt great, i was very productive, did good work. i can't even fathom that kind of energy now... still rewriting my sys op

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Energy is such an elusive thing...sometimes it's so strong, sometimes all gone!

[texastornado-91.livejournal.com]

You know, I have never written more seriously than when I did Nanowrimo. No matter how much i tell myself I'm going to get something accomplished, it doesn't happen unless I've got a specific deadline hanging over my head...and not one I set myself. It's got to come from an external source. Too bad the nervousness deadlines aren't motivating me either. I really need to work on some this weekend.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Nanowrimo was very good for me, because it taught me confidence in my ability to get something done on a very tight schedule. But I want to work more on setting myself non-work goals. It would be fun, for instance, to write a book of non-fiction in 30 days.
I think I could do it, but I need to stop thinking and just do it!

You do so much, like running a writer's board and nervousness projects and sketches and jewelry and i can't keep up with it all....you should pat yourself on the back for sheer sticktoitiveness.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

In college I took an intro. to poetry class where we had to write a one-page paper each week analyzing some aspect of an assigned poem. Since the papers were so short, I developed the habit early on of waiting until the absolute last minute--the minute I should have been leaving the house to get to my Greek class on time--to begin typing. I often had no idea what I was going to write about before I started writing it, yet somehow the professor consistently raved about my papers and how well thought-out they were. I'm still not sure how I did it.

After seeing your posts on my friends' friends pages, I thought it was time I added you to my own reading list. Hello!

[texastornado-91.livejournal.com]

You won't regret having him there! Gurdonark's got some of the best, most think-worthy posts there are on LJ!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Very kind of you!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

your story reminds me of my best high school friend and I. we had study hall together the hour before English class. I would work on my class essays the night before, writing ponderous things like "The Importance of National Defense in a Democracy", in which I advocated the appropriateness of absolute pacifism, while he would show up in study hall and toss off "The Music of David Bowie", in which he would just write about his favorite albums. He always got the much higher grade!

Welcome aboard! Hope I don't bore you to death :).

[robertstheology.livejournal.com]

Every term paper I have ever written,
was composed at the typewriter, between
midnight and dawn of the morning
it was due!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I had a few of those, too. I have pulled an allnighter on a work matter or so as well!

I want to write more poetry lately, though. Hundreds and hundreds of poems--in less than a month.
Quick, without thought, barely proofread, like some great term paper of the day to day.