Is it better to have a deadline?
A lot of writers I admire say: "I didn't know how long the story would be." Me too, I'm the kind of writer who don't know where (and when) the story is going to end. So I'm confused—is it better to have a deadline?
By better I mean: more likely to finish something. And that something to be of good quality.
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1 answer
I don't see how a deadline could improve the quality of what you're writing; if you don't leave yourself enough time and make yourself rush, it could have the opposite effect. It can certainly motivate you to sit down and actually write, though, rather than thinking about what're going to write.
You've said you don't plot your stories in advance, so I'd imagine (especially if you're talking about a longer project) that it's not practical to set a deadline in your case. So obviously, in your case: no, a deadline isn't going to help you.
However, there are ways of disciplining yourself - and thus making yourself more productive - even though you don't know how long you'll need to finish your story. Just set yourself some kind of accomplishment that you will do each day. Use whatever measurement makes sense for you: word count, or some more subjective measure (only don't cheat!). I use page count, as I write my first drafts by hand. However you set your limit, don't make it too easy, or too hard: just a little more than is comfortable, so you're pushing yourself a little. It's amazing how easily you can cease to be 'blocked' if you know you aren't getting up from the desk without writing your daily quota.
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