Life without deadlines? Probably never

As a freelance journalist, I live with deadlines. Since Friday, I've had a break from that ever-gnawing reality because on that day, I finished and filed two stories. Since then, I've been pinching myself, thinking about how to spend the next few days without the ever-present threat of self-destruction if I don't get moving on that interviewing or banging out that first draft on the computer.

It's amazing what control these deadlines have over one's psyche. I always swear that when two or three of assignments get stacked upon each other, I'm going to quit this stuff and get a life. Ha! Other dimensions in the life of a writer always seem to overpower these occasional threats.

For example, the next time the phone rings or an email comes, asking if I'd be interested in pursuing this story or that, I seldom resist. After all, when you can connect with someone in British Columbia who has a 20-year-old mare which has adopted and raised four orphan foals over the past few years, how can one turn down the opportunity? Or, how about the young lady in Mississippi who lost both eyes after being kicked in the face by her horse? She eventually moved on with her life with prosthetic eyes and actually got back into barrel racing.

Topics like those above tend to be too enticing for me to resist. So, I almost always weaken with my pledge to never do this again, and simply say, "Sure, send me the basics, and I'll do it."

Another aspect of writing that keeps me going is the actual process. Many writers will agree that crafting a story is like having a baby. In the beginning, it's so labor intensive and actually painful when all you can see is too much work and too much frustration. In my case, once I conceive an angle, I'm on my way to the birthing process.

Sometimes that's easier said than done, as I go through attempt after attempt trying to arrive at that angle. At least, with computers, we can simply delete. Remember all those days when you'd get sentence half-written, hate it, get mad and wad up the paper. By the time you finally got on your way, you were surrounded by a sea of paper wads. Well, it is a lot easier these days when we can simply push a button to get rid of what we don't like.

Once the perfect angle gets me going, more hard work comes along. I always staple all my interview material into one pile and skim through it several times, making sure that I tell the complete story and balance it with several perspectives, selecting the best quotes for the best circumstances and weaving it all together with some decent transitions. This segment of the process is definitely labor intensive and time-consuming.

When I do get to that final sentence, however, I'm like the mother with the newborn. The sigh of relief is overpowering, and the pride sets in. I know I've got something good. Now, all I have to do is polish, refine, boil it down and add those little bits of frosting on the cake. A lot of the polish happens outside while I'm doing tedious work like lawn mowing or raking. My mind often works as fast as the rake, thinking about better phrases or more appropriate words. Sometimes, I get so excited with an idea that I actually run into the house to make the changes.

Seeing my stuff appear print is always invigorating and satisfying but not nearly as exciting as that long-awaited, welcome moment when I've met yet another deadline and can enjoy a brief stressless interlude before a new assignment comes along.

So, I'm planning to enjoy the next few days before start feeling to feel the pressure of meeting the next deadline, which, by the way, deals with that equine foster mother in British Columbia.