Trust Your Experience
How do you produce quality work on a tight deadline?
{ My newsletter has now moved to Substack, a brand new platform from where you will still get my free newsletter, but also much more. A year ago I joined Illoguild, an international group of picture book illustrators (and I will talk more about that later) - every month the group will answer a prompt. July’s question is below... }
How do you produce quality work on a tight deadline?
Like any question, there are a lot of variables to the answer…what is the project, timeline, resources, amount of collaboration, and are cookies available?
I suppose there is plenty of good advice on this topic. Tangible things you can do to set yourself up for success on a tight schedule. Like proper rest and drinking water. In all honesty, I think when I’m up against a tight deadline, something magical happens…my experience takes over. I have no time to overthink, over analyze or second guess myself. Suddenly, my years of school, sketching, reading, work experiences, skills, positivity, and ability to focus under pressure comes together to create something effective and of good quality. I think the key is trusting yourself. Trusting your past training. Trust you’ve done the work before you were ever faced with this tight deadline. Know that you are capable of producing good work because you were chosen for your style, your skills and you can deliver what is needed. Focus, set your boundaries and get it done.
The hard part, in my opinion, is finding this trust when there is tons of time to work. When there is plenty of time to erase and change and tinker. There is a healthy amount of research, of sketching, collaborating, planning and finalizing…and sometimes there is just enough room left for uncertainty and insecurity. Scrutinizing and pouring over your own work until you really have no idea if it’s what it should be.
I think this why sometimes projects just seem to flow – they happen without much effort and sometimes it’s a torturous battle. So, the key is in honing your skills before the battle. Knowing when you work best. Noticing the hours your brain is running at top speed, the food that makes you feel good, the tools you enjoy most, and the people you can trust for an honest critique. Sharpen you skills so you work faster and smarter. Then when the inevitable tight deadlines comes…you can trust that you ARE ready.