A clean slate…and a deadline

20070217snow As I looked out the kitchen window this morning, I was struck by how the wind had drifted over the new snow.  How it was a fresh start…pristine. And I wondered what it would look like at the end of the day.

Sometimes, I have that same reaction to a blank piece of paper (or computer screen).  It needs to come to life.  But what will it be?   

You’re on deadline.  It could be a postcard for a trade show appearance, a new e-mail blast, a personal note to a friend on an important day, the annual report…it doesn’t matter what…the dilemma is the same.

The blank slate is before you.  The deadline is barreling towards you.  How do you move from a wind-wisped canvas to your latest masterpiece?

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6 comments on “A clean slate…and a deadline

  1. I just jump in and start working on something, breaking up the big project into smaller pieces that will keep me moving and thinking and writing through the process. I unhook from the linear world and ping about. At sometime point the pieces begin to take a cohesive shape and the final writing/editing can take place.

  2. Roberta,

    I have to force myself to do that too. But sometimes, I need to clear my head. I need fresh air. Or ice cream. Or a walk. Or to crank some music and sing and dance.

    Oddly — moving my body in some way moves my mind. Do you find that’s true or is it just the odd world that is Drew?

    Drew

  3. I get the singing and dancing part … actually, the more complex the project, the louder my music gets. I especially like Broadway show tunes when I’m really in the zone!

    Walking? That’s good, too. At the moment, though, the tundra-like landscape here in MD makes a merry stroll a tad more difficult.

    Show tunes always work :=)

  4. Roberta,

    Show tunes, eh? I have quite the visual picture!

    Drew

  5. Mark True says:

    Drew:

    I’m with you on the moving thing. I read somewhere about a year ago that working the hands works the right brain, so I keep a set of drum sticks on my desk. Can’t keep rythym if you paid me, but it does help just to keep spinning them around. Ask Cory…I gave him the second set that came in the box!

    -Mark

  6. Mark,

    Hmm, that’s a great way to get some movement but not having to actually leave the office, if you can’t break away.

    Do you wear any sort of do rag when you drum? Somehow that’s the image that keeps flashing through my head!

    Drew

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