By Janice Hardy
@Janice_Hardy
A new year often starts by declaring your goals and dreams, but a frightful number of writers don’t achieve those goals—or those dreams.
And I was one of them for a very long time.
I’d start every January with high hopes and ambitious plans about what I was going to accomplish that year. Sure, I didn’t get everything done the previous year, but I’d learned from those mistakes, and this year would be different.
Sound familiar?
When 2020 started, I was struggling to fit everything I wanted to do into my already-busy schedule. And then the pandemic hit. Like everyone else, my plans—and those goals and dreams—flew right out the window. The world came to a stop and so did I. Which gave me the opportunity to catch my breath, look around, and realize what had been holding me back.
Deadlines.
I know, that sounds crazy. Deadlines help us, right? They give us a target to shoot for. They let us figure out what we have to do in order to complete our novels before that date.
And that’s the problem.
When you write to a deadline, the only thing that matters is meeting that deadline.
Not the quality of the writing, not the strength of the novel, not your satisfaction with what you’ve produced—just the deadline.
Maybe it's time to stop writing to deadlines.
To be specific, stop writing to self-imposed deadlines. Some deadlines we have to meet (publishers are picky that way), but I’m not talking about those. I’m referring to the ones we make where we promise:
- I’ll finish the first draft by June 1
- I’ll publish this novel by end of summer
- I’ll get all three books of the trilogy out by the end of the year
- Or whatever your “I need to do this task or I’ll feel like a failure” goal is
Some writers can and do meet those self-imposed deadlines. If you’re one of them, let me ask you—is it everything you knew it could be, or did you rush a few things because you were running out of time? Did you not do something to make the manuscript better that you would have done if you had two more weeks to work on it? Is it “done” only because you had to meet your deadline?
And the real question—were you happy with the finished manuscript?
If the answer is “yes,” then keep doing what you’re doing. This article isn’t for you (grin).
If you answered “no” or you don’t meet your deadlines and feel awful about it, then stay with me.
I’ve imposed deadlines on myself for decades. I’ve arbitrarily decided when a manuscript needed to be done, then worked backward from that date and set my weekly and daily word counts. This seemed like such a logical thing to do.
It didn’t matter if I was capable of consistently hitting those word counts, because that’s what had to happen if I was going to finish the book by that date. If I had to push myself, or write on the weekends, or not spend time with my friends and family so I could finish the book, so be it. I had a deadline to keep. But when pushing yourself becomes the norm, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
The problem with self-imposed deadlines.
The problem with self-imposed deadlines is that they rarely allow for the time needed to do the task well.
It’s the date we want the draft done by, but it’s not reflective of how much time it will actually take us to write that draft. We set our schedules on when we want a book completed, or how many books we want to write this year, or any number of goals, but we don’t consider what we actually need to compete the tasks we set for ourselves.
And most of us stink at estimating how much time a task takes us to complete. That’s not a slight, there have been studies. It’s called planning fallacy, and something like 83% of people don’t estimate how long a task takes correctly.
For example, no matter what past experience has shown you, you let what you hope will happen override what you know to be true. Even if your last three books took ten months each to write, you think “I streamlined my process, so it’ll only take me six months from now on,” because you really want to write two books a year.
And it still takes ten months.
Or worse—you hit that six-month deadline, but the manuscript was rushed, so now it needs six more months just to get it into the shape it would have been in had you worked on it for ten months instead of six.
A New Perspective
Don’t decide when you want the project finished. Determine how long it will take to complete to your satisfaction.
“Satisfaction” is key here. What’s the point of meeting a deadline with a draft so rough you have to redo the whole thing? (Unless your goal was to write a rough draft, then that’s fine. You are satisfied.)
I know it’s hard. You want to get those ideas out of your head, onto the page, and into the hands of readers. You want your career to start now and not next year. You want to get those next three books out as soon as you can and start building your readership, because everyone says three to five books is where things take off.
I’m right there with you. But this false sense of running out of time to be successful can keep you from that success.
When I stopped writing to deadline, my productivity went up.
I gave myself the time I needed to write the book I wanted to write. And without that pressure hanging over me, I was able to focus and enjoy the process more, which led to better drafts.
A New Option
Here’s a process that works:
1. List all the tasks needed to complete your novel (or whatever your writing project is).
Whether it’s writing a first draft, revising the tenth draft, getting a manuscript ready for publication, or maybe re-vamping your website, the project will have tasks. Some of them will be easy, some of them will be complicated.
No matter how small, write them down. Ten “little things” that each “only take five minutes” is an hour. And odds are they take longer than you think. Which brings me to…
2. Estimate how much time each task will take.
Not the time you think it will take, or hope it will take, or will probably take if you push yourself because you want to get it done by the date I told you to ignore. How much time will it really take?
For example, if you know you’ve never written X amount of words in a writing session, don’t choose X words per session to write because that lets you get it done by that self-imposed deadline. Look at how much writing you get done on average. Track it for a week or two. Estimate based on your worst days, not your best days. That way, you’ll give yourself wiggle room and buffers when unexpected things pop up and you miss a writing session or two.
3. Determine how much time you’ll realistically need to finished your project.
Add it up and compare it to how much time you have each week to write. If you have ten hours a week to write, and your estimates say it’ll take you ninety-seven hours to complete that project, plan for ten to twelve weeks.
Yes, give yourself a week or two extra. 83% underestimate, remember?
4. Prioritize your tasks.
Figure out what needs to happen first and what comes later. For books, this isn’t as critical since you have your process and you know how you like to work. But you might need to research before you can write, or interview people, or outline or world build.
For other writing projects, the most efficient order to work in might not be what you think. For example, I’m launching my JT Hardy website this year, and I thought creating the website would come first. But when I listed out the tasks, I realized it came last. There’s a lot that needs to be done before I build it.
5. Work through your list (write the book, do the project).
This helps you focus, and gives you a sense of accomplishment that will keep you motivated. You’ll see progress without the impending doom of a looming deadline.
6. Stop at regular intervals and evaluate your progress.
Not every book or project goes the same way, and you have no idea what unknown issues might pop up. Check in from time to time and see how the book or project is going.
Do you need to add some time to the schedule? Adjust your schedule as needed, and don’t feel guilty about it. This is why you’re not writing to deadline. You’re giving yourself the time you need.
If you’re ahead of schedule, great! Don’t change it, just keep working. That extra time now might be needed later if something goes off the rails. I did a revision this past fall that was two weeks ahead of schedule until I hit act three—then I used up those extra two weeks.
Final Thoughts
A shift in perspective can make a huge difference in your productivity. You’ll focus on the time you need to be successful, not an arbitrary deadline only you know (and care) about.
Once I stopped using deadlines and shifted to understanding what I needed to do to complete a project, I started finishing more projects. And I was a lot happier with my results.
Now it's your turn. Do you write to deadline? Do you find it helpful or stressful? We'd love to hear about it down in the comments.
* * * * * *
About Janice
Janice Hardy is the award-winning author and founder of the popular writing site Fiction University, where she helps writers improve their craft and navigate the crazy world of publishing. Not only does she write about writing, she teaches workshops across the country, and her blog has been recognized as a Top Writing Blog by Writer’s Digest. She also spins tales of adventure for both teens and adults, and firmly believes that doing terrible things to her characters makes them more interesting (in a good way). She loves talking with writers and readers, and encourages questions of all types—even the weird ones.
Find out more about writing at www.Fiction-University.com, or visit her author’s site at www.JaniceHardy.com. Subscribe to her newsletter to stay updated on future books, workshops, and events, and receive her book, 25 Ways to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now, free.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound
Image by David Bruyland from Pixabay
