The Write Amount of Pressure

Tension is key for a thriving plot. It doesn’t hurt to experience a little tension when it comes to accomplishing a writing task either. It’s all in the way you choose to react to the ticking clock. A little pressure never hurt anyone. In fact, it can bring out the best in you.

If you’re willing to see things through a unique lens.

I realize some people work better under pressure than others. I’m going out on a limb to say that anyone can succeed when the flames get hot. It’s all about taking a note from a mind-blowing story from the Bible, and doing the Shadrach-dance the second our fingers feel the heat.

Five Ways Pressure Can Inspire Our Best Work

It Sharpens Our Perspective

Tension forces us to come to terms with how badly we want something. When we’re counting the hours we’ve invested and the lack of sleep we’ve sacrificed, giving up suddenly seems foolish.

We Launch into Fight Mode

Adrenalin-charged, we take to the task with a rejuvenated fervor. No backing down. We feel our muscles thrum and our brains tingle. Game on, we think, as we throw ourselves into the current project. We will reap the rewards for going in and staying in with a winning mindset.

We Learn to Trust Our Guts

There’s no time to consult ten different people or to Google every last doubt away. When our time is crunched, we get the privilege of learning something foundational that has the potential to spoke out into every facet of our lives. We evaluate our writing with ruthless, yet discerning judgment. We don’t contemplate what works and what doesn’t. We just know. Because it’s a waste of time to double-guess ourselves. And there’s no time to waste.

We Refuse to Bow to Excuses

Procrastination is the ultimate Ice Queen. If we know we have time, most of us are likely to take it. Don’t get me wrong, time’s a beauty. I’m a huge fan of allowing plot ideas to marinate and novels to organically unravel. However, without any kind of flame stoking the fire, our work is at risk of turning to ashes or ice. We’re tired. We’re too busy. We’re not good enough. Spear that Ice Queen and get to it, flamethrower in hand, and imagination on fire.

We Develop Our Author Voice

One of my favorites thrills as a writer is when I stamp a watermark of myself on the page. Here’s the tricky part, time is necessary when it comes to authors discovering voice. No way around it, to possess a strong writer voice it takes years of discipline.

Another way to look at this…when are you most likely to divulge your secrets? When do things have the potential to get crazy real? Answer: When your feet are to the fire. In small bursts of pressure-filled time we can dig up some of the best that exists inside us. It’s the pressure that coaxes it out from where it may have remained dormant for years if all continued status quo. Flames refine us.

I frequently create self-appointed deadlines. Keeps me on my toes. Keeps my material fresh.

Make tension work for you.

Now, Abednego. (Or as I hear it in my head, I’d better go.)