I have written about self-imposed
deadlines at the Alley before...I am pretty sure it's a struggle for
many aspiring authors. We aren't held to a contract or have an editor
pushing us along. But we are anxious to get this writing career going
and want to get the submission-ball rolling. At least, that's how I feel most of the time.
Self-imposed deadlines are great
goal-setting tools. I enjoy writing toward something; holding myself
accountable to my writing time; keeping in mind that near future date
so I stick to the story and don't allow non-writing things get in the
way (well, the non-important non-writing things like Facebook and
retail therapy).
There is another benefit to
self-imposed deadlines, though. And that is the flexibility to change
the
date if need be. Recently, I surprised myself after a decade of
my publishing pursuit, when I met my self-imposed deadline with a
complete manuscript...and then..I didn't hit send on that date. I
wanted to be sure it was where it needed to be, not when I wanted it
to go out.
You know your patience has grown when
you pass up a self-imposed deadline to get it right.
It's a fine line to know when to hit
send and when to pause for another read-thru. Sometimes, we peck our
stories to death and tweak and tweak and suck the joy—and perhaps
the voice—out of the story. There's a lot of fear and guts and
vulnerability in hitting send. So those self-imposed deadlines can
give us that courage.
How about you? Do you set deadlines and ever pass them up to get it right?
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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written six historical novels and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check out her author page at www.facebook.com/dicken.angie, her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com and connect at:
Twitter: @angiedickenPinterest: pinterest.com/agdicken
6 comments:
I am a huge believer in self imposed deadlines. They absolutely keep me motivated. Letting them go can definitely be a struggle - but i am getting better. Great post!
I have self-imposed deadlines, not by the day or even the week because of my crazy schedule, but in chunks of time. For example, I want to have a draft done of one of my WIPs by September, then I'll switch projects and work on another one. I rotate. If I don't have deadlines I get bogged down. Also, I think it's important to impose the discipline on yourself so you'll be ready when the Call comes. I am working on two drafts of two sequels of two works that aren't published yet. I am working on the sequels so I'll be ready if the first books get contracts. It's risky, but everything is these days.
Kathy Bailey
i've learned so much since publishing novel #1 [Tessa] - setting goals and deadlines is not something that comes naturally to me, and i'm ever so thankful being an Indie for that reason. i had set an unreasonable goal of having my sequel [Clara Bess] all done and published in June - alas, it didn't happen. health reasons [nothing to do with dallying on facebook, noo, never... LOL] i realized that it will be a better, more polished story to give myself more time - release now set for October, the anniversary of Tessa's print release.
Joanne,
Yes, sometimes it feels like a fail to pass the deadline, but it can be a huge win in the long run. :)
Kathy, You are so right about getting in the deadline mode for when you actually have someone else imposing those deadlines on you. Good point!
Robin,
I can imagine that self-imposed deadlines are very necessary but flexible as an indie author. And I so hear you on the Facebook delay!! HAHA~
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