Blogger: Wendy Lawton
As I may have mentioned, ahem, I’m on a productivity kick. Last week I listened to a great Craig Groeschel Time Management podcast, It’s About Time. The podcast is actually meant for leaders but there’s much wisdom for writers as well.
One of the concepts Groeschel practices is setting deadlines. For writers who are contracted that seems like a no brainer. The deadline is written right in the contract and a writer understands the real meaning of the term, deadline. It’s a line you dare not cross lest you find your career utterly dead, right?
There’s nothing like a deadline to encourage us to work at maximum speed and efficiency. When I wrote daily I used to say that a comfortable writing speed for me was 2500 first draft words a day. The funny thing was that the closer I got to deadline the more impressive the word count. As the deadline approached I could easily do 5000 words a day with gusts up to 7500.
So what is it about a deadline? You know that if you have a trip coming up and a task list a mile long, that should have taken a week or longer, you will somehow get it all done in two days. Why? Because of the hard and fast deadline.
What does a deadline do?
- It gives a “maybe someday” project a finite ending date.
- It emphasizes the priority of the project.
- It lets you divide up the work into bite-sized pieces and fit it into a finite timeframe.
- It solves the perfectionist’s problem on never being able to put a fork in it. When the deadline comes, the project is done. No more fussing.
So what do you do if you have a project with no deadlines? You set an artificial deadline. You may need to have someone hold you accountable for that deadline but a hard and fast deadline is a must. Here are some tips for learning how to respect an artificial deadline:
- Practice. “I need to have this kitchen sparkling by 7:30 tonight. That’s the time I promised the kids we’d play a board game.” Trust me. The kids will be in the kitchen with the game box a full five minutes before the deadline. That gives you an artificial deadline and accountability.
- Schedule a reward at the end— something that can’t easily be changed. “I’m going to have this book done by the Monday before Thanksgiving so I have one day to clean the house, one day to cook and one day to sit and do nothing.” Or maybe schedule a facial and massage for the day after the deadline at that posh spa that takes more than three months to book and charges you full price if you try to reschedule. That’s incentive!
- Use a built-in block of time. “I have a six month sabbatical coming up next year. I’m going to finish the novel in the first five months and brainstorm the next one in the month that follows.”
Here’s your challenge: Which project of yours needs an artificial deadline and how will you make it stick?
Got any other deadline tips for us? Please share.
This from the gal who says “if it wasn’t for the last minute, lots of stuff would never get done”–
* Deadlines are stressful. Be cautious about artificially adding to your stress.
* I prefer to think of it as goal, not a deadline. What goals can I sacrifice to attain this goal? The kitchen doesn’t actually have to sparkle before I play the board game. The dusting can wait while I write.
* I can rally the troops to meet a real deadline. Doing so for a self-made deadline sounds a lot like nagging. I can ask how things can be rearranged so that I can meet my goal–which is better if the goal is described in ways others can see (time instead of words).
* That said, work does expand to fit the time available. Thus my one-word for the year is two words. FINISH IT. Which looks a lot like a deadline.
Good counterpoint. Of course, remember, artificial deadlines are part of training for the real contractual author deadlines.
I’m better at setting goals and deadlines for writing my first draft. The editing phase gets a little hazy for me.
I try to work on editing chapters, but I really need to make sure a character’s GMC stays consistent. So then I try to check that. I took an editing class a couple of years ago, and it helped but I still struggle with time management during this phase.
I’d love any suggestions. Thanks!
I find that keep track of time spent vs. work done is great for analysis– where am I getting stuck? And explore the underlying dynamic. Is it a confidence issue? Is it perfectionism?
Anyone else have suggestions?
Thanks, Wendy. I’ll start taking note of time vs. work.
We overuse this at work, so I cringe when I say it. But it can be useful:
What are the barriers to success? What can we do about them?
Leaving my family and moving to a cabin in the woods (with internet and hot running water, of course) probably isn’t an option.
GMC trucks are good, but the performance of a Ford F250 is more consistent. Perhaps your characters need to change truck brands?
I’ve been writing with artificial deadlines for the past 13 years and have only recently dipped my toe into the land of actual deadlines. I started out slow by trying to write a Christmas novella for my publisher (without telling them I was doing so) the hard and fast deadline for Christmas submissions made me work faster and with a determination to get it right sooner without moping over the stories woes, but simply fixing them and typing on. Yes, no one but me knew of my aspirations, but I made the deadline, with a day to spare. Now I’m writing something that they know about and expect at a certain time. This is a first and it is nerve racking, but I think those years of artificial deadlines have helped prepare me, I hope!
Excellent. You were smart to test yourself against artificial deadlines before you came up against an outer imposed deadline.
There is an entertaining game played during the selection process in the Tier 1 community.,,,one is given a cross-country land navex, with a LOT of contour lines between origin and objective.
* The time standard is not disclosed, nor is any indication of whether another objective will be given upon attainment of the first.
* It’s great preparation for writing, and for life.
Yikes! I would hate that.
I want to get this read-through done by the end of the week. Thankfully, I’m confined to quarters due to a Man-Cold my husband gave me as a gift. (Like, curled up in bed and keeping small children away kind of sick. Thank the Lord for internet and Netflix.)
I give myself deadlines because I want to train my brain to be ready for them.
But, we live a life of seasons. School, exams, holidays. Hockey, regionals, play-offs. Hub’s work has its own unchangeable schedule. Trees grow, then they go dormant.
Thus, the deadlines are there whether I ask for them or not.
Although, I do LOVE saying “I’m sorry, I can’t come to your pub crawl, I have a deadline.”
Unless it’s Ghirardelli’s, then deadline schmeadline. 😉
Yep. Part of preparation for the real thing which doesn’t care about colds, hockey or pub crawls.
I’ve been writing on deadlines since 2007/2008, writing articles. I’ve learned that staying ahead of the game, for the most part, relieves the stress. And I love your tips on artificial deadlines, especially with my daughter’s graduation coming up. You really helped me last week, reminding me not to keep mental notes, but to write them down, free my mind. 🙂 And as far as writing a novel, without a deadline, I like to pick a contest entry date, one requiring a completed MS and one where I’ll receive valuable feedback, and let that be my goal. I’ve done that successfully the last two years, and I’m working on the third year.
Ha! I forgot that I used to write for a newspaper. I blame the germs to which I have succumbed. (It’s a wimpy cold, but I sure can make it sound like the plague!)
Sunday, 10pm, off to the op/ed editor or BOOM.
You’re a writer … it’s amazing what you can do to a cold!! 😉 I hope you get better soon. What does “boom” mean? 🙂 Do I want to know? Tell me anyway … I might can use it in this MS. Hee hee!
My editor, a woman named Gisele McKnight, would send the 4 horsemen of the layout team to my door if she didn’t have my piece at the exact hour.
BOOM means trouble!!
Can I use the part about someone coming to your door, the boom, and trouble? 🙂
Sure!!
But be advised, you have to have the French version as well. Because Canada.
I’ll help you.
“Ouvrez la porte? Y,regardez vous le plus grande BOOM!”
Ha ha! Working that in is going to be a challenge … but you know me, I’m up to it!! 🙂 I’m on it! 🙂
Jennifer, how would you say this in French? “I don’t want anyone knocking on my door tonight, and boom—trouble.” 🙂
Google says:
Je ne veux pas que quelqu’un frapper à ma porte, ce soir , et boum -trouble
Great idea!
My problem is I tend to set overly optimistic deadlines, and can’t make them. Last night I found a writing/publishing schedule I made last June. It had 13 items on it, stretching all the way out to August 1, 2016. In fact I only finished one item, partially finished another, and my current work-in-progress isn’t even on the list. A four-letter word happened to me last August, which continues even now: LIFE. And it has sapped almost all writing time.
David, don’t be too hard on yourself, life happens.
*I was tossing clutter from my desk this morning, something I put off because I like to sit on the floor, and I found a piece of paper with this scripture. Romans 12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
*God has also given each of us a different time line to use those gifts.
David, be sure to keep track of your original optimistic deadlines and then the realistic end dates so you can track what is possible when you are setting a publishing deadline.
As Jennifer said, we live life in seasons. If you are in a crazy season, go easy on yourself.
It is wise to remember that we have the watches, but Murphy has the time.
Love this, Andrew.
Nice!
I love your suggestions, Wendy. I used to be really good about working to artificial deadlines. These past six months have been much more challenging . . . for a lot of reasons.
*When I’m out of the habit of working to deadlines, I believe the first thing that has to happen is I need to pray, and then determine in my mind that I am going to get back to it. And then get busy working.
*In my specific situation, recuperating from ACL surgery last week, I also need to give myself a little grace and not beat myself up over all that I’m not able to work on right now, for various reasons.
Bottom line: Set deadlines, determine I’m going to meet them, but give myself a little grace when real life happens, but don’t let myself off the hook completely, if that makes sense. 🙂
That makes complete sense and sounds a lot like grace. 🙂 That surgery came up so fast. I hope you are feeling okay.
Thanks, Shelli. I’m glad surgery came up fast. Recovery will be slow, but it should be good in the end. 🙂
Definitely! ACL surgery is a rough one. Not a little grace– a huge dose of grace. And get well wishes from all of us.
Thank you, Wendy!
Makes sense to me. Jesus was full of grace and expects us to show grace to people, including ourselves. I hope you heal quickly!
I find it hardest to show grace to myself, Jackie. 🙂 And thanks for the well-wishes.
I am great at meeting my technical writing deadlines at work. My boss has one set of deadlines and I have another. If I meet my deadline, I should be able to meet his. However, I am absolutely lousy at meeting the deadlines that I set for myself when I am writing my novel. I feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. How to get my artificial deadlines to stick for my novel, I think I will need to answer to someone (like a friend, a coach, or a writer’s group) in order for this novel to get done.
Accountability can be a powerful tool.
The artificial deadlines we impose on our selves are often carried on the backs of our families.
* Perhaps they should have priority in rewards?
Great idea, Andrew.
Sometimes, just getting out of bed in the morning needs a deadline!
*It’s been a while since I’ve given myself a personal goal to complete a writing task. Every time I’d lead that old nag from the barn and get her saddled, she’d run off to greener pastures.
*Thanks for cracking the whip, Wendy. I needed it.
🙂
Deadlines are the engine that drives accomplishment, and I’ve found that there is nothing more stress-relieving than having something done well ahead of the deadline.
I almost always set an early deadline to offset the hazard of unexpected delays, but I find it helpful to banish the word “artificial” from my thoughts. “Personal” is a better word than “artificial.” Artificial suggests it isn’t real. The artificial deadline IS the deadline for me, and I set it with the guideline that the last 10% can take 30% of the time. The bigger the project, the sooner I set my personal deadline, just in case something unforeseen comes up that forces me past it. Even if I get pushed past it, I’m the only one affected since others are operating on the real deadline. That’s liberating, too, since I hate to make others suffer for my failure to deliver on time.
Great way to think about it. When I was in the grocery store over the weekend (which is almost adjacent to our university) the checker, who was also acting manager, moaned that they had a bagger call in sick. She smiled at our bagger and said she offered to do a double shift to fill in. The girl said it was perfect for her. She had all her reading and homework done early so she was free to make a little extra money. I looked at that bagger and saw success written all over her. Homework done by Saturday morning when you are in college!
I agree with you. Nothing feels better than to have a deadline completed early.
The trick is to set goals–or create deadlines–and accomplish them as often as possible, while at the same time recovering *quickly* if you can’t. I can be so goal-driven in my writing that if I don’t meet my own expectations, I’m thoroughly discouraged. I need to work on not having that perfectionist pass/fail mentality.
And I need to copy and print your comment and pin it on my wall. Wise. Wise.
I’ve come to hate the word deadline. Not because I “work.” I’m “retired.” But because I no longer have control over mind time or body time due to health problems. I work when I am able. I don’t work when I’m not able. Fortunately, I’m able to work a little more–and a little more productively–this year than last year. But not enough to set a real deadline. I set them, but I know they’re not practical. My niece recently asked me what my deadline for my current book first draft was. I said end of April. She laughed. So did I. Maybe my health will miraculously improve even more. Maybe someday I can once again meet deadlines. Maybe then I will have learned enough to write well enough to consider looking for an agent. In the meantime, I’ll pull myself along like a tortoise and just hope to cross the finish line–someday. 🙂
Sylvia it sounds like you are in a season where you need to grant yourself grace. If you were only able to write 200 words a day you’d have a first draft in 12 months.
We tend to think we have to be super-human but small and steady still gets the work done. And how much of the work we need to do requires us to be still and think through things?
H-m-m. Granting myself grace is not a concept I’ve ever considered. I’ll have to think on that. Thanks!
Sylvia, one of my clients just wrote an excellent book on that. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK by Kim Fredrickson. She’s a long time counselor and now someone fighting a terminal illness, though that’s not what the book is about. It’s about the power of self-comfort. And she teaches how to do that. The subtitle is Turning Your Inner Critic into a Compassionate Friend. http://amzn.to/1TxD5bj
Thanks, Wendy, for the recommendation. I’m not sure Buy with 1 Click is always a good thing, but maybe today it is. I just clicked.
After getting a burst of inspiration and writing the first few chapters of my next book, I’ve stopped and decided to outline the rest. I need to set a word count goal to keep myself on track, instead of finding myself stuck in the “dreaming” phase — which, for me, is when I take lots of time pinning ideas on Pinterest, researching, sketching the setting, etc. All of those are important, but don’t mean anything if I don’t eventually apply it to the WRITING of the book. 🙂 I work best under pressure — always have. But I also found great success with NaNoWriMo a few years back when the word count deadline really mattered. I did more in those 30 days than I would have ever dreamed possible!
I love that you are experimenting to find your own rhythm. It’s so important. We are all different and we all work differently. Some novelist just have a rough idea and write vivid scene after vivid scene while they are inspired and later weave those together. It’s fascinating to see how each person works.
Yes, it is fascinating! For me, it can be so easy (and risky) to fall into a rut of comparing myself. “If only I was more disciplined like she is…” but our strengths come in different shapes and sizes — naturally. So learning to use our individual strengths is key to finding our own unique efficiency.
When I had a full time job and kids at home I got a lot more done in the little bit of free time I had than I often do in a whole day since I retired. My time is scattered all over the place and It’s hard to schedule anything. But deadlines do help. Motivation is important.
There comes a time when we need to ease up on ourselves as well. You mentioned motivation– I’m going to write about that next week. 🙂
Setting an early deadline is liberating in even more ways. It frees you for the spontaneous moments. It lets you allow yourself to be distracted from the deadline project without feeling guilty or falling behind. I was working on an entry to the Genesis contest when the idea for the next novel popped into my brain. Rather than push it aside and keep plugging toward the target, I let myself take the next 6 hours for the new idea, and I have almost the whole plot outlined and a couple of key scenes written. By having an early deadline set for my Genesis entry, I had a spare day to work on what I felt God was telling me to do that morning. When I picked up the entry that evening, it took shape much faster than it might have if I hadn’t allowed the “distraction” to take those hours.