Of Short Circuits and the Creative Process
This past week was a tricky one.
A holiday weekend.
A workshop piece due May 31.
A packet due June 4.
A locally-sourced freelance piece due June 4.
It didn't help that four days of torrential or near-torrential rains started late last Wednesday. (I'm ignoring the snow that hit the higher elevations over the actual holiday weekend.)
Aside from one interview for the freelance piece, I couldn't get myself to work. While it was true that the weather made me uneasy, and for good reason--there were washed out roads and water across main highways between us and points west--there was another reason for my inability to work. My creative mind was being pulled in so many directions it was short-circuiting.
I kept sitting down to work on my workshop piece, thinking I could pound out eight rough pages in a morning, and finishing with two or three. It was torture, of the slow drip kind. Sure, I was making progress, but not fast enough. It wasn't until Monday afternoon, when I sat down and realized I only had four pages to go, that I knew I could do it.
Once that was done, it was as if order had been restored. Yesterday's work on the packet went smoothly. I made some progress on the freelance piece.
This is why I am not a last-minute person. Even without panic, too much pressure inhibits my ability to work well.
What about you? How do you respond to multiple, close deadlines?
P.S. It didn't hurt that we took time out for Star Trek Into Darkness.
A holiday weekend.
A workshop piece due May 31.
A packet due June 4.
A locally-sourced freelance piece due June 4.
It didn't help that four days of torrential or near-torrential rains started late last Wednesday. (I'm ignoring the snow that hit the higher elevations over the actual holiday weekend.)
Aside from one interview for the freelance piece, I couldn't get myself to work. While it was true that the weather made me uneasy, and for good reason--there were washed out roads and water across main highways between us and points west--there was another reason for my inability to work. My creative mind was being pulled in so many directions it was short-circuiting.
I kept sitting down to work on my workshop piece, thinking I could pound out eight rough pages in a morning, and finishing with two or three. It was torture, of the slow drip kind. Sure, I was making progress, but not fast enough. It wasn't until Monday afternoon, when I sat down and realized I only had four pages to go, that I knew I could do it.
Once that was done, it was as if order had been restored. Yesterday's work on the packet went smoothly. I made some progress on the freelance piece.
This is why I am not a last-minute person. Even without panic, too much pressure inhibits my ability to work well.
What about you? How do you respond to multiple, close deadlines?
P.S. It didn't hurt that we took time out for Star Trek Into Darkness.