Crushing Writer’s Block: The Power of Uncomfortably Close Deadlines

A hammer made of deadlines is the surest tool for crushing writer’s block.

-Ryan Lilly

A hammer made of deadlines is the surest tool for crushing writer’s block.
-Ryan Lilly

I love deadlines.

I especially love uncomfortably close deadlines because they are the pressure cooker that creates finished and published books.

If you’re willing to be honest with yourself, you’ll admit that a deadline way off in the future is less than useless because it’s irrelevant.

It doesn’t matter yet.

Very little will happen until that deadline gets closer in time and forces you into action.This is why I love Manuscript Math. Share on X

It tells me exactly how many days I need to complete my first draft.

Is it insane to write a 30,000 word first draft in 10 days? It’s only 3,000 words a day.

At 1,000 words per hour, it’s just 3 hours. 2,000? Done in 90 minutes.

This is a first draft. Quality doesn’t matter yet, but speed does.

Write those words as fast as you possibly can.

I did a writing test the other day, suggested by my writing coach.

He dared me to write for 5 minutes straight without stopping, without fixing spelling mistakes or punctuation, without trying to find “the right word.”

Just write non-stop for 5 minutes.

I was astounded. I wrote 275 words.

I highly encourage you to take this challenge too and, when you do, I’d love for you to share your results in the comments!

Watch today’s video for the super-secret code to slay procrastination and writer’s block.