Writers Under Pressure: How Deadlines and Edits Bring Out Your Best Work

From Edie: Discover how writing deadlines and edits can strengthen your creativity. Learn why pressure refines writers and helps you produce your best work yet.

Writers Under Pressure: How Deadlines and Edits Bring Out Your Best Work

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan

It has been said, "Writers are like a teabags—you can't tell how strong they are until you put them in a deadline." (I confess that wasn’t said about writers, but I stole it to make my point, okay?) 

Like coffee beans are subjected to roasting and pressure before their deliciousness can be savored, writers are subjected to edits and deadlines before their brilliance can be savored.

Which tests your resilience the most? Do you blossom under pressure? 

I've only had one tight deadline in all my years of writing. And I found I did better with a deadline. Some writers can self-impose a deadline which inspires them. Not me. I spot it for the imposter it is and give it the raspberries.

I've had one of my critique partners for twenty years. She holds feet to the fire. When my first manuscript sold, my publisher assigned an editor to me. When I got my first round, I groused, kicked a couple of cabinets, and didn't like it a bit. I let it sit—like a teabag—for a while. Then I got down to it, made the suggested changes, and loved the final draft. I realized how much better my work was because of her edits.

I'll admit it took a few books before I began to look forwrd to edits. I'd grumble, then do them—and I always liked that final draft better. Every single time. 

Now after 17 books going through the process, I look forward to the pressure of deadlines and edits. 

Being a coffee and tea aficionado … okay addict, I can appreciate their sacrifice for my enjoyment. I've decided I'm more like a coffee bean, though. 

Which are you? Tea or coffee? Join the conversation!

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Writers Under Pressure: How Deadlines and Edits Bring Out Your Best Work from @AneMulligan on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Ane Mulligan lives life from a director’s chair, both in theatre and at her desk creating novels. Entranced with story by age three, at five she saw PETER PAN onstage and was struck with a fever from which she never recovered—stage fever. One day, her passions collided, and an award-winning, bestselling novelist emerged. She believes chocolate and coffee are two of the four major food groups and lives in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a rascally Rottweiler. Find Ane on her website, Amazon Author page, Facebook, Instagram,Pinterest, The Write Conversation, and Blue Ridge Conference Blog.