I have a deadline. One I imposed on myself, but to make sure
all the rest of my plans fall into place, I need to make this darned deadline. My current WIP needs finished by March 31.
Am I going to make it?
Yes—well, I hope so.
I’ve been suffering lately from writer’s block. Well, not
really, I’ve been finding ways to distract myself. I hate when I start doing
that. I don’t have time to be distracted. I have to write!
I have a ton of things I have to do this summer.
I want to finish the re-edit and polishing on one of my contemporary
Westerns to get it out there and submitted—that is if the current editor who
still has the partial don’t really throw a grenade into my plans and request a
full… Note to all concerned—DON’T SUBMIT WORK THAT’S NOT REALLY READY. Sure the
three chapters I sent her were polished to a spit-shine, but the rest of the book—all
100,000 words of it—not so much.
Then I need to write the third book of my paranormal series.
And let’s not forget the promotion, as in the way of a month long blog tour and
picking up as many stops on my own along the way, I have planned in July and
August for the release of the first book of the series. I’ve started writing a
lot of those blogs already and want to write a heck of a lot more after I
finish my current WIP on March 31.
Not to mention the volunteering I do for the RWA, critiquing
for my fantastic CPs, and I do work full-time and have a family, home, and just
living to take care of, too.
And who knows what else might be coming down the pike—HOPEFULLY,
I’ll also be doing edits on book 2 and my current WIP for editors who have them
under contract.
So, back to my question, will I make my self-imposed
deadline—probably, because I learned a long time ago to budget my time. And I’ll
reward myself for completing the task on time.
I think the smartest thing I ever started doing was imposing
deadlines on myself. I do this every day. By doing so, I get things done—including
reading a little along the way and doing family things and even cleaning the
toilet. I don’t doddle on the internet when I know I have things that need
done. I may not get them done until the end of the day, but I get them done.
How do you manage your time so that you complete all that
needs to be done?
10 comments:
Glad you posted this because I have been struggling lately with getting things done that I need to.
So, I have made myself not only deadlines, but a list of things I need to accomplish everyday.
That means I have to cut my online time in half. That has been my biggest time suck. I will limit my online time to half an hour in the morning to comment on as many blogs as I can. And then an hour in the evening to catch up with goings on.
The one thing that has really helped me stay on track is something I've been doing for about five years now. I buy one of those daily calendar books. Each day I list everything I need to accomplish. I list appointments, due dates, etc, in it as well. I try not to carry anything over to the next day if I can help it. I've become more focused and productive this way. And, seriously, I just love checking things off a list.:-D
The Internet is my biggest time drain. I limit myself to 5 minutes on facebook and twitter per day. But emails? Ugh! I get hundreds every day. I'm retired so I don't have that outside job and my family lives in other states. It's just my husband and cat, and both seem to understnad my devotion to craft. I set a 4 month deadline for each book. Once I know my projected finish date, I tell my agent so she can put me on her reading schedule. This sense of accountablity drives me forward. My problem is the other storylines that pop into my head...me thinks I have ADD...LOL. I understand your getting distracted. I suffer form that, too. For me it's a delaying tactic for when I'm facing a scene I don't know how to write. When that happens I put on my big-girl-girdle and plow headlong into the madness. Good luck, hon.
I think you really have to, Sara, espcecially after you're published. I have so many ideas for stories, but have a hard time getting started on one project. If I don't set deadlines, I'll never accomplish anything new. Right now, I've got one story set in gally that I have to proofread by next week and three submissions I'm waiting to hear back on. I also have a short story I just have to write the ending to, then I can put it aside for a couple of weeks, before I have to edit, polish and submit that. Some of my deadlines are imposed by publishers, like galleys and submission deadlines, but I also try to impose self deadlines for completing projects.
Right now, my dilemma is trying to decide which new project I want to start on first. And then I have to build in gaps for working on any contracted stuff. It's never easy.
Best of luck in making your deadline!
I'm with Brenda - internet & email sucks my time and zaps my creativity. I have lists of things to do, but like an addict I check my email. I have to impose a limit on myself. I'm a writer, not a social networker.
Loved the post. It's amazing how being a writer just sucks the time out of your day. Probably not what we initially imagined, right?
I'm terrible with the deadlines. The only think I accomplished last month is reaching 50% of my every-day goals. However, I don't loose hope. 50% last month, 75% this month & 100% future month=deadline reach.
By the way I forgot to add - I'm amazed by the photo of the girl & wolf here.
I find I work better under pressure. So I set a deadline, then dawdle on the computer until I can't possibly dawdle anymore. LOL.
Ok so I set deadlines and don't make them. I try goals, no luck there either. I spend way too much time on the internet- I can take all day checking email- so today I forgot to even check email until after one pm. Yay that I finished the final three contest entries- that I agrees two weeks ago to judge! Now I have time on my hands and blogged about that even.
Good luck finishing your book and making deadlines.
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