Fellow Writers: Why do we work better under pressure?

I think they wait until the last minute because the urgency causes them to get nervous which causes the blood to flow better to the brain. Just my theory that has absolutely no scientific evidence that it is true. Sometimes I have struggled with writer's block. In that case I do a writing exercise where I pick my favorite food, movie, book or some other favorite thing of mine and start describing as if I was talking to someone. That gets my writing juices going. And yes, sometimes I have ideas coming so quickly in my head that I can hardly write or type fast enough to get it down. I have thought of caring a little tape recorder around with me just to record ideas as they pop into my head. Sometimes I have been awakened in the middle of the night and I know that if I don't write down my idea it will be gone. Sometimes it is a poem since that is my favorite writing medium. It is not easy writing in the dark but when I wake up the next morning I can usually read what I wrote!

Waiting until the last minute has burned me more times than I care to report. So, to solve this little problem I created for myself, I set a self-imposed deadline three or four days prior to the editor's deadline. Because I'm forgetful, I still feel the pressure and think I'm coming in right under the wire. Working in this capacity forces me to take the assignment more seriously, work harder and work quality hours. I think if I spread out assignments casually and got to them from time to time, I'd have lax attitude that would reflect in the work I'm attempting to accomplish.

Procrastination goes with any job, not just writing. Deadlines make me keep my nose to the grind until I finish because missing a deadline terrifies me. I write for a paper and I usually put off certain articles because I don't want to go to the place I have to go to get the story. Then I enevitably forget something and have to go back. Each month I swear I am going to do better but I never do.

I am a classic procrastinator, too, and I think that one of the things that I would suggest is the fear of success. If you wait until the last minute to finish something and it doesn't turn out well, you can always blame your lack of time. If it turns out great, then you applaud yourself for pulling another one out of the hat. It's crazy to operate that way, but I have known so many successful people who always wait until the last minute. I even worked for a boss who was constantly missing airplane flights because he waited so long (too busy at work) to get to the airport, then he would go racing off. In the case of rushing to the airport, it's not for me. Pulling an all-nighter to finish a project...been there, done that a million times.

I think writers like waiting to the deadline or close to it to start writing gives them the chance to feel as if they are living on the edge. I usually don't have a writer's block problem if I'm writing about something worth writing about. If the topic is boring, I usually will try to find a way to avoid writing it or I will write something...it just won't be good. Overall, writing is a joy for me, and I try to not write under pressure, but sometimes writers have had their best works come from pressure because they can just write what they feel instead of agonizing over the quality of the work.

I procrastinate on everything, so waiting until the deadline is not at all unusual for me. For writing, my problem is that fiction comes to me in bursts that end up leading almost nowhere. I have a novel started and I've stalled at page 6 even though I have 15 pages of outline and notes. [rolls eyes] I find that, for articles, if I write a quick idea and writing prompt for myself I take ages to actually sit down and write the article. If I have a deadline, then I know that I *have* to do it and can force myself to focus. Writing for Helium and Associated Content there are no deadlines. That means that I have topics I started researching a month ago that I still haven't pulled into an actual article. I sympathize with the topic burning to get out. My problem is that, if I write it down for later, later never comes. I've got to wait until I have time to flesh it out and by then I've either forgotten what I meant to say or thought of a different topic. I actually feel that I write better about things that don't interest me as my personal opinion doesn't try to sneak into the article.