Writing to a deadline is not something many new writers have the luxury/pain of experiencing. That was one of the reasons I started this project. I wanted to give myself a [very public] deadline to encourage me to write every week.

Deadlines may suck, they may add stress, they may drive you to drink (a topic for another post), they may bring out the swearing and the cursing and the black snake moaning, but one thing is certain, they work.

There were weeks during this ridiculous fiasco of mine where I had nothing written when I woke up Sunday morning.

I shouldn't say that.

I had three or four things started and I hated them all.

But I had a deadline.

And I always made my deadline.

Deadlines work.

Sometimes I had to post a script I knew was bad. [scary]

Sometimes I had to post a script I knew I had no notion of.  I couldn't tell what it was. [very scary]

Other times, I had to post a script that I really thought was great. [scariest of all]

For my very last post, #52, I spent 6 days writing a story about a screenwriter (a veiled me) landing in an LA agent's office and learning the hard way that his year of learning meant nothing to anyone but him.

You'll notice if you read #52, that's not the script I posted.

I woke up Sunday morning and wrote a completely different story and posted it with about 17 minutes to spare.

I could have pushed the deadline back by 2 or 3 hours and ultimately nobody would have cared.

But that's not how deadlines work.

You either make them or you die.

Give me a month and I'll take a month.

Give me a day and I'll take a day.

Don't let yourself off the hook. Set a deadline, tell everyone you know about your deadline, and keep the deadline.

Because in the end, the only question that really matters is the question only you can answer:

Are you a writer or not?