Let’s pretend you’re a journalist.
Each day you sit at your desk and spend the whole day writing one article of approximately 400 words in length.
Then one day your boss comes to you and says I need 300 words from you in an hour.
Agh! Stress! Poisonous stress courses through your veins and paralyses you!
Great! Now let’s investigate the cause of the stress.
I don’t think the word count is the root of the anxiety, because you could pick the first 300 words of the dictionary and you would satisfy that criteria.
I think the time limit comes closer to the stress but doesn’t fully hit the mark.
I think the fear stems from the question – Can I produce something the boss likes in an hour when I am used to taking 8 hours?
I think if you’re not afraid of the boss’ disapproval then you could have 300 words written in 20 minutes.
Thomas Duggan 