We are now in our third week of the Chapter Book Challenge. I hope you are getting some writing done on your story, and I hope you are not feeling at all stuck right now. I thought I'd re-post a bit of a blog post I did for the Blog Your Book in 30 Days challenge a while ago about deadlines and how they help us, since this challenge is all about giving ourselves a deadline.
Deadlines and how they help you reach your goals
I have always been an expert at procrastination. If I have a task set out in front of me, I will find other things to do instead and put the task off indefinitely, or I will put it off until it can no longer be put off. That is where deadlines come in for me. Deadlines give me that point where things can no longer be put off. For example, if I wait too long to write a draft for a story that is due for an anthology, then I won't be able to write a compelling story before the deadline arrives.
I thought it might be helpful to list some of the ways that deadlines are useful to writers, so I have made a list below.
1 - Deadlines give you a set time to achieve your writing, without which you might put that writing off indefinitely. If you have a deadline at the end of the week, then you know that you will need to start writing and researching at some time prior to that deadline in order to give yourself time to complete your writing project.
2 - Deadlines give you a sense of satisfaction to your activities. Knowing that you are working towards a deadline can give you a feeling of accomplishment as you take steps towards reaching that deadline on time. Each chapter written in the story you have a deadline for, each page or each higher word count you achieve, helps you feel you are getting somewhere with your writing.
3 - Deadlines can give you structure towards reaching your writing goals. Not sure which story , article or post to start working on first? Look at your deadlines and start working on the one with the closest deadline. Need three days to get to the point in your outlining and research where you can do the actual writing? Start your research earlier to make sure it is complete in time for you to start writing.
4 - Deadlines can help you prioritise your writing when life tries to intrude. We all have lives outside of our writing. Some of us have families. Some of us have jobs not related to our writing. Some of us have pets. Some of us have a regular work-out schedule or have classes to go to. The list can go on when it comes to what kinds of things can interrupt and interfere with our writing time. Deadlines can help you say "no" to interruptions, because you know that you only have a set amount of time to complete a project. Yes, we all have to spend time with family, and we can't say "no" to our jobs when it is those jobs that pay the bills, but if a writing deadline is looming, it helps you to weed out the things that interfere with your writing time which can wait or be set aside or can be out-sourced to someone else temporarily. (I'd love to be able to outsource some of the housecleaning! Instead, I let my house get a bit cluttered and messy whenever I'm aiming for a writing deadline.)
5 - Meeting deadlines can improve your confidence in yourself and your ability to meet future writing goals. Every time you meet a writing deadline, you have attained a writing goal. With each goal achieved, you improve your confidence. Also, meeting deadlines can help others to take you more seriously as a writer. They see you working towards your goals and respect that effort.
The usefulness of deadlines is why I run writing challenges such as the Chapter Book Challenge (ChaBooCha) and the Blog your Book in 30 Days challenge. It's also why I join in with other writing challenges such as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the 12 X 12 Picture Books Writing challenge. These give me deadlines even when I don't have an employer setting one for me.
So tell me, have deadlines helped you achieve your writing goals?
I love the satisfaction of crossing things off a list. It makes me feel so accomplished and eager to cross off the next goal. Great list!
ReplyDeleteMe too! Sometimes though, I can give myself too long of a to-do list, so I have to make sure to set realistic deadlines for myself.
DeleteThank you, Becky, for re-sharing your post on deadlines. I love dealing with and setting deadlines. But, I also love the flexibility of resetting deadlines to meet life’s needs.
ReplyDeleteRe-setting deadlines happens to all of us. But having a deadline to start with usually helps motivate me to do more in the time I have.
DeleteI agree, Becky. I need deadlines so that writing is a priority. My critique group really helps nudge me along.
ReplyDeleteI tend to procrastinate. Having a deadline, even a self-imposed one, helps push me forward with my writing.
DeleteI love deadlines, but it's taken many years to learn to make realistic deadlines: ones that lie between reasonable and push-me-out-of-my comfy-zone. My latest technique is daily lists of micro goals. I find myself racing to scribble off as many as possible. But I've noticed this subtle way of tricking myself is actually making me more productive. I'm taking every spare minute and learning to get in the writing zone faster. Thanks for motivating posts!
ReplyDeleteYour "micro goals" remind me of the mini-goals I set for myself when I was losing weight. I had so much weight to lose that I knew looking at the whole amount in one go would be intimidating, so I set lots of mini-goals to meet along the way. It helped so much and, eventually, got me to my target weight. (Now I just need to get BACK to that target weight! lol!)
DeleteGreat post, Becky. I love to-do lists and deadlines. And challenges like #ChaBooCha!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I have too many deadlines at the moment. Would rather be writing!
ReplyDeleteBecky, these are invaluable tips. Sometimes deadlines have to be flexible, sometimes they are hard & fast. But knowing how much we can manage in any given day/week is vital, too. Thx for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. Yes to deadlines -- essential! And then, for sanity, I add the mantra "There's always enough time for everything." :)
ReplyDeleteI am a huge list maker, and I now keep a writerly calendar aside from my family calendar. It helps tremendously. Deadlines are so important to keep my story moving.
ReplyDeleteThank you Becky for sharing your thoughts on deadlines. Crossing things off a list shows a sign of accomplishment and with that a sense of pride. Keeps us going. I need deadlines because I am a procrastinator myself!
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