Why Deadlines are GOOD…

“I love deadlines. I like the whoosing sound tehy make as they fly by.” Douglas Adams

I love Douglas Adams, but I don’t quite agree with this one. I am a writer who needs deadlines. The firmer the better. Firmer means they’re juicy and ripe, right?

Deadlines are a challenge to me. They’re not to be met, they’re to be beaten into a bloody pulp then kicked in the head a few times to make sure they don’t get back up.

Frankly, it’s just about the only way I get anything done. Seriously. If I don’t have a sound and firm reason for something to be one by a particular time or day – it doesn’t get done. I have folders of half completed plot bunnies – not that they aren’t good ideas, but I’m a distractable writ…ooh, shiny! What’s that? Cool!

Deadlines provide structure. Focus. A way to be a Miracle Worker (just ask Montgomery Scott). “Laddie, you never tell them how long it’ll really take, how else are you going to be thought of as a miracle worker?” Though I never say it’s going to take me 4X longer than it will (ie, 8 hours vs. 2 hours), I do try to make sure I can beat the deadline by 1-3 days.

So, I’m about to have my husband impose a deadline on me for novel completion, and since it won’t be MY deadline, I should take it seriously. Here’s hoping.