I usually work well with a deadline. I may push that line, bending it as far as I can, but I rarely break it.
That is, until it’s a self-imposed deadline. If I commit myself to something like this month’s NaBloPoMo schedule, or when I participated in past year’s Novel Writing Month – with it’s daily word count targets – my fingers and brain rebel.
When there is no risk of failure – read: missed deadlines – the words and ideas come at will. Sometimes they won’t stop. I’ve awakened from a rare, deep sleep and had to write down a dream or story idea before I could even attempt to go back to bed. Lately, dreams and ideas are as elusive as sleep.
When I tell myself I have to do something on cue, the muses give me the silent treatment. Come December 1, half a dozen plot lines will have a party in my head. What’s there now? Crickets, annoyingly quiet crickets.
Thin spiral notebook 
Yes, the crickets, silence.
There are times when I am busy doing other important stuff, that’s when ideas come out and it is annoying. Then when it is time to write down those ideas, there are crickets all over my brain. I think that’s how life really goes. Haha. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s funny, sometimes, I respond to a deadline with brilliance. Others … yeah. Crickets. I avoid Nano and Napo for exactly that reason. AWGH THE PRESSURE!! But somebody invited me to contribute to an anthology for which I’ll never likely see a penny and … HOO HEY YEAH, I’ve got this whole short story mapped and drafted, because … WOW SOMEBODY INVITED ME AND GAVE ME A DEADLINE!
In other words, I totally get it. I want to know more about how the paid photo gig goes, by the way!
LikeLike