Toni Noel
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Blog - Who Needs Deadlines?

3/30/2012

10 Comments

 

I do. In fact, I adore deadlines. Without a looming deadline I find myself taking longer walks than usual, shining the pots and pans, and spending endless time on social media sites, reading about other writer's deadline woes.

I suspect my accounting positions caused my obsession with deadlines. One of my duties was setting the calendar for the year, deciding when the company would close for the holidays, when to close the company books each month, and whether to observe Federal holidays over a long weekend, or midweek.

Even my monthly calendar was regimented. Three days into the new month balance the company bank account, post time cards every Thursday, distribute paychecks every other Friday, regardless of whether the payday and month-end close fell on the same day and required me working overtime to get everything done.     

Such an uncompromising schedule served me well once I retired and began writing full time with the goal of being a published author. Eight a.m. to three p.m., found me seated at the computer, writing, revising, writing some more. Two nights a week I wrote for three more hours while my husband taught a college course.

Fourteen years and ten completed manuscripts later, all that changed. I sold my first manuscript. My husband retired. The release of my first novel opened social media doors I never knew existed, doors my publisher expected me to throw open and let readers know I existed so they would buy our books.

Self-promotion kills creativity, but I'm the one killing time.

I need to go back to that weekly and monthly schedule. Perhaps daily and weekly scheduling is more fitting for a published writer needing to complete more manuscripts.

I meet actual deadlines with no problem. The manuscript for my September release must be submitted by May first, along with the Cover Art Input Sheet. Do-ahead person that I am, both are ready to go well before that deadline.

Where I find myself having problems is with my discretionary time. Being retired, it's all discretionary time. I've been working on my latest WIP for over a year. The writing has progressed so slowly I've three times had to go back and read through everything I've written to reacquaint myself with who these characters are and where I left off, before I could pick up the writing again.

At my RWA chapter meetings I give myself deadlines like 'write another chapter,' and lately, 'finish it.' Nothing works. I did write a chapter last month, two more this month. Back when I was in my writing groove I'd write a chapter a day.

I'm debating what to try next. Would bribery work? Finish a chapter and you can tweet for an hour? At one time I loved the premise of my story. It's so hard to finish, I'm beginning to hate everything about it now. I know better than to move on to something new. I've tried that, and it didn't go well either. It's me the writer who has to change.

Maybe self-discipline is the answer. I'm beginning to think I’m sorely lacking in self-discipline. I must have had it in college, when I was working full time and taking twenty-one required units a semester to complete a business degree in information systems in record time.

I'm not addicted to social media sites the way I've heard some writer's have become, but I am easily distracted. This week, I'm going to set a timer, and will let you know how it goes.

        

  

10 Comments
Shirley Ann Wilder link
3/30/2012 08:03:37 am

Well, while you want to write and stay focused, it can be costly. I was at the computer too long and left my pool water on. Didn't hear the timer and overflowed the pool. The weeds in back are happy but I'll be applying for a second mortgage to pay the next water bill.

Reply
Toni Noel link
3/31/2012 03:14:46 am

Hi, Shirley,
Sorry about that, but I've walked in your shoes. Until these handy times came out that fit between the faucet and hose I was forever forgetting the watering until a neighbor came over to tell me water was running down my drive.

The fill float on my neighbor's pool used to stop working and we'd wake up with a 6 inch deep pool in our back year.

Toni

Reply
Mae Clair link
3/30/2012 09:53:38 am

Hi, Toni. I'm not retired (yet) but facing the same challenges. I recently sold my first manuscript and realized I had to embrace social media. It takes a lot of time I'd rather devote to writing, but I've learned a lot too. Kind of like a necessary evil, LOL.

Because I work a full-time job, I set aside Sunday afternoons as my designated writing time and try to squeeze in a few extra hours during the week when and where I can. I long for those days when I can finally write full-time. In the interim, I find I'm disciplined and can stick with a project. Hopefully, when I have all my social groups/loops in order, I'll be more disciplined about them too and can find that happy medium with writing! :)

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Toni Noel link
3/30/2012 10:00:52 am

Hi, Mae Clair,
Warning: when this started for me there was just the website, blog and Facebook where authors were expected to show up. The number has grown exponentially, with new apps and loops and groups coming on line every day. I could use an assistant to keep track of my passwords. Thanks for you comments.

Toni

Reply
Elisia
3/30/2012 03:16:01 pm

I am not retired but I have the same problem I realize I really need deadlines. I joined my local RWA so I hope my chapter helps me find a way but I have a sneaky suspicion that I will have to find the spark within. Great post.

Reply
Toni Noel link
3/31/2012 03:11:12 am

Hi, Elisia,
Our Chapter has an annual challenge to encourage unpublished authors to write a book in 9 months. I've joined it to give me deadlines, but I feel I need to finish my WIP before I start the one I'm anxious to write.

Toni

Reply
Lisa Kessler link
4/1/2012 04:52:20 pm

Hi Toni -

Deadlines definitely help me too!

Are you on the chapter's Challenge Loop? I find it really motivating to hear everyone's progress and it helps me to focus on my own...

Just a thought! :)

Lisa

Reply
Toni Noel link
4/3/2012 07:57:51 am

Hi, Lisa,
Yes, I signed up for the challenge, but haven't made any progress yet. Too busy judging contests, but I must designate some time to the challenge or miss out on this great opportunity to get back on track.

Toni

Reply
Mary Galusha
4/6/2012 01:16:42 pm

Deadlines definitely make one get step up to the bar. No, not that kind of bar although that's a thought. Seriously though, I make schedules but other things happen and then I don't follow my precious schedule.

Reply
Toni Noel link
4/9/2012 01:15:37 am

Yes, Mary,
Life has a way of getting in the way of my writing, too. I'm often reminded of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who only found time to write on Saturday night after everyone else was in bed. She's save up her creative ideas all week, and put them down on paper by the light of the fireplace. The Yearling won her a Pulitzer prize. I need to get my priorities straight. With a computer and printer, the writer's life is so much easier, nowadays. But with a computer and a printer, the writer's life is so much more complicated.

Toni.

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    Toni Noel enjoys  writing romantic suspense and contemporary romance, reading, gardening and walking her dog Jack in Southern California.  

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