On Deadlines

Is there anything that is more exhilarating in a professional setting (e.g. school or a writing based job) than a deadline? I think not. The feeling of being down to the wire scrambling to finish some piece of work and finish it to the best of your ability is something that I have not felt in a while and it reminds me of how some of my best work spins out of this frantic rush to the finish line.

I will say that my fiction piece for my creative writing class which spawned this idea is probably not as good as it could be, but the sheer amount of creativity I forced myself to generate surprised me. 14 pages of new material in 12 or so hours over 2 days is probably the most I have ever written in such a time span. The story had a beginning and an end, but the middle was like some strange unmapped river, you knew where it went, but not how long it would take or where it might turn or encounter rapids. Characters I never dreamed were created for singular purposes and filled them well. Characters I created from the start did things I didn't expect. Others were underdeveloped to the point of being a plot dump, something I truly regret, but necessary to the story nonetheless. These characters all have stories and things to do, the focus was just needed elsewhere and the story is certainly not over. I suppose that's what sequels are for...

Boredom

Is not advantageous when trying to write a blog entry about something. Though it can be a jumping off point, it typically will end things abruptly, like so.