Missing the Deadline
Behind on your novel? Are you stuck mid-sentence one/third of the way through and can't seem to find the words to finish said sentence? And if you can't finish that one sentence, how the hell are you going to finish the rest of the book in the next two weeks?
Maybe it's not for a lack of words. Perhaps it's because home and work are crazy. Work left you with, what I call, oatmeal brains, and now that you're home the kids are screaming for dinner and your spouse is too busy "resting" from their hard day to help you. You try to stay up after everyone else is asleep only to find yourself nodding off in the quiet and the dark. No amount of caffeine can save you.
For those people who don't write, let me tell you, writing is hard enough. Creating a story full of beautiful images and flowing prose isn't as easy as some would have you believe. It usually takes loads of time, lots of reading, and multiple edits before your book looks even remotely close to how you envisioned it. So on top of being creative and having a story to tell, you need to find the time to get it out of your head and onto your computer screen and, sometimes, finding the time can be down right impossible.
Just relax and try to breath. I promise, your book will still be there tomorrow. Not everyone can pull all-nighters, especially if you have another job or kids to shuttle to school early the next day. Some of us aren't in our twenties anymore and can't function without sleep. Art takes time and the best art happens when the artist is rested and inspired. If you are tired and rundown, your novel, not to mention everything around you, is going to suffer. So put down the coffee and get some sleep!
I haven't had a publisher proposed deadline for a book yet. My deadlines are self-imposed and as strict as I can get them. Does that mean that I stick to them? (If this had an audio attached to it, you would hear me laughing as I type this.) NEVER! I never stick to my writing deadlines. Not because I don't want to, but because I have children and an apartment that are never clean. Dishes and laundry don't do themselves, unfortunately, and the kids are too little to reach the food in the fridge. I can come up with all kinds of excuses during the day not to get my writing goal achieved. It doesn't mean I don't write, it just means it's going to take me longer than I want. Instead of the twenty-five hundred words I wanted, I got five hundred. Right now, for instance, I am a week and a half behind where I wanted to be on my wip. I was smart - I gave myself plenty of room to make up the time because I know myself, and I know my limits. My new time frame is to finish before October because I have big plans for my favorite month of the year. Let's just say that there will be another complete first draft on my shelf before Thanksgiving rolls around. Unless the kids get sick, or the dishes pile up, lol.
The bottom line is, know yourself. Be realistic about what you are capable of. And whether your deadline is one you set for yourself or one your publisher gave you, take it one day, and one word, at a time.
Maybe it's not for a lack of words. Perhaps it's because home and work are crazy. Work left you with, what I call, oatmeal brains, and now that you're home the kids are screaming for dinner and your spouse is too busy "resting" from their hard day to help you. You try to stay up after everyone else is asleep only to find yourself nodding off in the quiet and the dark. No amount of caffeine can save you.
For those people who don't write, let me tell you, writing is hard enough. Creating a story full of beautiful images and flowing prose isn't as easy as some would have you believe. It usually takes loads of time, lots of reading, and multiple edits before your book looks even remotely close to how you envisioned it. So on top of being creative and having a story to tell, you need to find the time to get it out of your head and onto your computer screen and, sometimes, finding the time can be down right impossible.
Just relax and try to breath. I promise, your book will still be there tomorrow. Not everyone can pull all-nighters, especially if you have another job or kids to shuttle to school early the next day. Some of us aren't in our twenties anymore and can't function without sleep. Art takes time and the best art happens when the artist is rested and inspired. If you are tired and rundown, your novel, not to mention everything around you, is going to suffer. So put down the coffee and get some sleep!
I haven't had a publisher proposed deadline for a book yet. My deadlines are self-imposed and as strict as I can get them. Does that mean that I stick to them? (If this had an audio attached to it, you would hear me laughing as I type this.) NEVER! I never stick to my writing deadlines. Not because I don't want to, but because I have children and an apartment that are never clean. Dishes and laundry don't do themselves, unfortunately, and the kids are too little to reach the food in the fridge. I can come up with all kinds of excuses during the day not to get my writing goal achieved. It doesn't mean I don't write, it just means it's going to take me longer than I want. Instead of the twenty-five hundred words I wanted, I got five hundred. Right now, for instance, I am a week and a half behind where I wanted to be on my wip. I was smart - I gave myself plenty of room to make up the time because I know myself, and I know my limits. My new time frame is to finish before October because I have big plans for my favorite month of the year. Let's just say that there will be another complete first draft on my shelf before Thanksgiving rolls around. Unless the kids get sick, or the dishes pile up, lol.
The bottom line is, know yourself. Be realistic about what you are capable of. And whether your deadline is one you set for yourself or one your publisher gave you, take it one day, and one word, at a time.
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