Time Crunch

Today I was watching an episode of Cake Wars on the Food Network. For those that don't know, there are two rounds of competition where bakers and cake artists battle to present cakes with design and flavor to represent a given theme. They are given a challenging time limit and must present their creations at the end of that time. As happens in every episode, someone struggled to complete their cake within the given time causing it to be unfinished and look sloppy compared to what they were trying to achieve.

It got me thinking about writing. Some authors, myself included, work well under a deadline. We find that looming goal to be an inspiration and it spurs us on the the finish line. There are others that find such constrictions to be oppressive. It makes them shut down creatively and makes any work completed seemed forced. There is nothing wrong with either style of writing but I got to thinking about those deadlines. If you create, or accept, a deadline and it is racing toward you but you find yourself behind, does your work suffer and become sloppy because of that pressure?

Do we decide to cut a chapter short. gloss over details of a character's background, or skimp on describing a particular scene in order to complete the story in time? Are there things we can ignore for the sake of meeting our goals or are we justifying less than stellar time management? On the show the judges critique the cakes and send home the contestants that don't live up to the challenge. In the writing world it isn't that cut and dry but we are judged constantly and a series of bad reviews can follow if you cut corners in your work.

I need the deadlines in order to push me but I think it is a lesson in time management. Without a particular time in which to complete a book I will linger over details, get distracted, or even start a whole new project without finishing the first one. I still need to be conscious of how I am progressing though. I want to put out books I'm proud of and make sure I am giving my readers the quality they deserve. It is a balancing act, much like getting a cake with the perfect amount of flavor and decoration.