Monday, May 10, 2010

My Writing Life -- Deadlines

All writers face deadlines, some set by others and some set by ourselves. Mine are mostly self-set and often I beat them. Then there are the times when I don't. This is often caused by trying to do too many things at once. I have a deadline set by another for a novella, but there is also a new book to plan and one to finish proofing to send out. I tried to do all at once and found myself bogged down and going nowhere. What I had to do was tell myself to calm down. Since no one is waiting for the story I'm proffing, I can finish that when the time is ready. Once the novella is ready to send to a reader, I'll be able to meet the deadline. As for the plan for the new book, it's only ten or eleven pasge so I'll polish that off and move onto the novella. I'll stop panicking myself into thinking I need to be super-writer. Pacing is everything.

2 comments:

Wendy S Marcus said...

Hi Janet!
I work best under deadline. When self-imposed deadlines aren't working, I'll sometimes enter a contest which gets me to focus on editing just in case I win and the editor/agent requests the manuscript.

P.S.: You seem so calm. I can't imagine you stressed.

Janet Lane Walters said...

Wendy, That's something I've learned to project. When I worked as a nurse, I used to tell myself Today I am a nurse" as I drove to work. When I go to meetings, I remind myself that I'm the older statesman. It's called acting. Janer