A Not So Common Project

Hello Friends!
A couple of times now I’ve hinted at a new Secret Project. Well, today it is no longer a secret.
A few months ago I did a thing. I joined a collaborative group indie publishing project called the Common Elements Romance Project.
You guys…I am so excited about this I can hardly contain myself!
The brainchild of fellow Regency author Cora Lee, Common Elements is a group of romance authors who are all writing their own stories in their own worlds, then self-publishing them next autumn. What makes this project unique is that regardless of sub-genre, all the stories must contain five common elements: a lightning storm, a thick stack of books, a set of lost keys, a haunted house (real or rumored), and a person named Max.
Though I had originally slated this to be a stand-alone story, it somehow got ideas of it’s own and wanted to be part of my Reluctant Lords. So I decided to make it a prequel novella to the series. The next thing I know, the characters got ideas of their own and wanted a bigger part! So needless to say, I’m trying to fight them back into a novella length, but at this point they’re winning. 😐
Anyways, now that I have a definite deadline and release date (eek!) I needed a release plan. The first step to this is to, oh, you know…write the book! lol
So, once again, I am signed up for National Novel Writing Month. That gives me a month to write the story. Thirty days to get 50,000 words towards a workable rough draft. All while working the Day Job, plus overtime, and preparing for my next trip in December. It’s not going to be easy, but you know what?
I work best under pressure.

How about you: Do you work well under pressure, or do prefer a more relaxed and planned out method when it comes to getting things done?