Vent: I had to choose between a detailed outline and just winging it for a short story contest

The deadline was in 48 hours, so I picked just writing from a single image prompt of a broken lighthouse. Honestly, it felt like pulling teeth for the first 500 words, but then the story just clicked. Has anyone else found that tight deadlines force you to pick a method and stick with it?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace_chen5d ago

Yeah, deadlines kill the overthinking.

christopher_hunt5d ago

So true, @grace_chen. Does it ever backfire for you though? Like, a tight deadline forces a decision, but sometimes I pick the first okay idea instead of the best one. I had to make a poster last week in an hour and just ran with a basic layout. It worked, but it wasn't creative at all.