harrisdevot
Priest of the Holy Wristband
In the past, certainly. But there's no reason why they have to keep on doing the same thing indefinitely. They usually used to shut themselves away in a hotel or somewhere and just get their heads down and write, as you say, with a deadline (except for Somewhere In Time which they all wrote separately during their break after the World Slavery Tour). But now, we are told, they are writing "bits and bobs" at an apparently much more leisurely pace. Also Dave (I think) has said that they don't have any plans for next year, although we've been told in the past that they plan everything years in advance. So it seems that things are being done differently this time, whatever the reason for that might be.
As for the writing process, I don't think there is anything really new in Bruce's statement about them writing bits and pieces. As far as I know, they've almost always done this, which doesn't mean they have actual songs. When they decide to write an album and actually define a deadline, they assemble those bits, write the lyrics and so on.