3 ms·
While I agree wholeheartedly with the article I feel there is a flip side to this: announcing what you're going to do can be a way to put some pressure on a lat
by carlob 12y ago
While I agree wholeheartedly with the article I feel there is a flip side to this: announcing what you're going to do can be a way to put some pressure on a late project. Be it a business project (signaling we're in crunch because we've half announced it), or a personal (as in a way to fight procrastination).
Now I don't know how much GRRM tells about his progress on his blog, because I don't follow it, but I'm sure some authors in the past have used this technique to feel some pressure to finish up something.
- joezydeco 12y agoMartin is in a tough spot, and Gaiman points that out. It's a known quirk that announcing you're going to do something decreases the likelihood that you'll actually get it done. http://sivers.org/zipit http://sivers.org/zipit But if you actually publish a book that's labelled "BOOK ONE OF A SERIES" then you're implicitly saying that you will be working on a sequel. You don't need to say anything to anyone. This is why Gaiman says "Both of these things make me glad that I am not currently writing a series".
- carlob 12y agoInteresting read. I wonder how universal that is. Some years ago I told a bunch of friends that my new year's resolution was quitting smoking and if they were to see me smoke they were allowed to call me an idiot. It worked pretty well for me.
- syntheticnature 12y agoAh, but that was adding social pressure as opposed to just saying "I'm going to do X."