Tuesday, June 06, 2006
My First Tight Deadline
So, book three of my Guardians of the Night series is due in August. And I just started working on it last week. (No, I'm not procrastinating--I haven't even seen the contract for this deal yet, but obviously I can't afford to wait until I do to start writing.)
Although I'm a fast writer, and very, very deadline-oriented, I did experience some small moments of panic over this one. Not because I didn't think I could do it, but more because there was something overwhelming about having a deadline for a book when I didn't even have the faintest outline of the plot in my head yet. (The panic rose just a little higher when, after a conversation with my editor, it turned out book three would be about a different character than I had planned!)
Luckily, my natural deadlinephilia took over, and the panic receded in the face of logic and planning. I set out a schedule for myself, starting on June 1st. I discovered that by writing a measley five pages a day (seven days a week, but that's normal for me), I could get a first draft done by mid August. That would leave me a couple of weeks to edit and polish before sending it to my editor at the very end of the month.
When I broke it down to a schedule like that, suddenly, it didn't seem like such a big deal. I can write five pages a day easily, even on days when I need Superglue to keep my butt in the chair. But for me, it's not good enough to make a deadline. I have to beat it. So, although by my schedule, I only needed to have 20 pages done by the end of last week, I had 47. And I'm still pushing to get further ahead. Being ahead of schedule is never a bad thing! This will give me some peace of mind come July, when I know I'll be spending a full week at the RWA national conference. And, of course, the faster I get the draft done, the more time I'll have for revising.
posted by Jenna Black @ 8:33 AM
3
comments
3 Comments:
You're awesome. Mostly because I love deadlines and therefore I love your process. ;-)
Makes sense to me! Good luck on getting it done ahead of time. :)
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I have definitely gotten myself off to a good start and have had a very productive week. Amazing what telling the world about my goals will do to my motivation!
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