[Linked Poll's access is restricted.]

I created that poll four years ago. I sit here now, trying to think of a good topic for this issue of the For Authors newsletter. (It’s 9:42 PM, and the newsletter was - technically - due sometime yesterday, noon, I think. It won’t go out until Wednesday night, late, and as usual I’m pulling it out of my left ear. I don’t think Writing.com staffers or loyal subscribers would like to hear excuses about ear infections…) But seriously, take the poll. It has confirmed that I am not alone in this affliction of procrastination and perfectionism rolled into one. I would rather die than miss a deadline. Unfortunately, it takes a deadline, more often than not, to motivate me to pull things like a newsletter out of my ear. Ouch.

I may, at times, appear lazy. In fact, I’m merely resting for the adrenaline-and-caffeine-fueled all-nighter I’m destined to pull, creating something out of absolutely nothing. Or creating something out of something, with the added deadline pressure to make that run-of-the-mill something into a thing that interests me enough to convey some enthusiasm to you.

Let’s face it - my day job is writing technical documentation. Puts most people right to sleep. “I never read the manual,” they say. Fine, but I still have to write it. If you are one of those rare souls who diligently reads the instructions that came with your coffeepot, can opener, or laptop PC, bless your heart. There’s also that little matter of last-minute changes to the project; there’s really no point in writing early, when the product design’s going to change two days before the final draft is due at the translation house.

I’m sure this trait serves us writers well. Journalists, for instance, have to be the first with a breaking news story. They must write quickly, accurately, concisely, clearly, and convey the who, what, when, how, and why of the situation. Novelists - the kind with multi-book contracts, anyway - are expected to produce seconds, thirds, fourths, on command. Poets…okay, unless they’re foolish enough to enter a poetry slam, poets have the luxury of time. But I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever taken longer than an hour to write a poem. I wonder what our poets laureate would think of that? Non-fiction articles, too, must be timely; either one has a psychic sense of what will be needed in the future, or one writes quickly - on deadline. (I prefer assignments and deadlines, personally.)

But here’s the downside of a deadline and a predilection to procrastination: I was laid up all day Sunday and Monday with a stomach virus. Fever, chills, and…I’ll spare you the gory details. Saturday was my daughter’s graduation - halleluiah! - from High School, followed by dinner at a fancy restaurant known for serving copious amounts of excellent food. (No, I don’t think Sunday's gastrointestinal distress had anything to do with my eating enough to satisfy five growing linebackers.) The previous weekend, I was confined to a hospital bed. They didn’t allow laptops and they didn’t provide a wireless connection (and they were not at all amused when I tried to jerry-rig my EKG to get reception from the office building next door).

So you see, there are occasionally factors beyond our control that interfere with our carefully-planned procrastinations. Now, I’m actually forced to pull this editorial from my ear canal (ouch, ouch, OUCH!).

There is a compromise, of course - for the wise. Artificial deadline pressure. If you have six weeks to complete a project, but know in your heart you can do it in two, set your deadline three weeks earlier. Yes, you may have to edit the heck out of that sucker at the eleventh hour, but at least you’ll have the majority of it researched, if necessary, and written. The triumphant high of having completed the project in your usual time - but ahead of schedule, for a change - may actually reduce the stress in your life and save you from having to jerry-rig an EKG machine to piggy-back wireless LAN signals from an office building outside the hospital. (Not that that works, mind you. It just gets your name in some crank file down in the hospital administrator’s office under “Troublemaker.”)

Soulwinds writes:

It's so true about blogging. I've even begged one of my friends to blog. He finally gave in after I explained that by blogging I can see how his life is going and stay up to date on the important things when we don't have time to talk for weeks on end. I blog quite often myself and think it's a great way to let people know just how you're feeling.

SHERRI GIBSON writes:

excellent advice!
sherri gibson

Autumn Rose writes:

Thanks for featuring my news portfolio! It was a pleasant suprise to find it there as I was reading through the newsletter.
-Autumn Rose

billwilcox writes:

The word Blog does sound like a bit of constipation.

Raine writes:

Blogging was never a goal of mine but has become part of my routine anyway. A sort of random, eclectic mishmash of unrelated thoughts, opinions and even jokes. I've probably induced a few "drive-by yawnings". Thanks for the great read!

Vivian writes:

I can tell you why I don't blog, Jessie. If I'm going to write, I'll work on something I prefer doing, such as poetry, short stories, novels, articles. Blogging doesn't appeal to me except to read occasionally.

dogfreek21 writes:

Thanks! I've wondered what the point of blogging was anyway. You have good reasons to do it. (though, you still haven't convinced me)
DF the Nut

tahubley writes:

Blogging is not just for the esoteric anymore. Blogging is becoming a way of life in more formal arenas now too. I have heard of public officials using blogs to keep citizens abreast of developments. I read a daily blog by Governing.Com called "The 13th Floor". Our own institute director has started blogging just so we have some clue what's going on as we reorganize and grapple with mold contamination at work. In short, this is a new way to at least give some semblance of transparency to management and a place for less formal ideas to germinate. So what's my excuse? Gotta run.

schipperke writes:

Great newsletter, Jessie. I have made wonderful friends here on Writing.Com because of my blog. I highly encourage starting a blog.