As July raced to the finish line, I kept one eye on the days flying off the calendar faster than I could catch them and another eye on my growing word count.
My third novel was contracted via proposal, so I had my first writing on a deadline. With the help of an incredible beta reader and prayers from my writing support teams, I had this deadline in the bag.
No problem.
In fact, I was on track to finish early. Not weeks early, but days ahead of schedule.
Until life buckled my knees.
One week before my deadline, I received a call my father was very ill and was being taken by helicopter to a large hospital three hours away. He underwent major heart surgery, but he didn’t make it through the night. Two days after the initial phone call, my dad had passed away.
My grieving heart hung heavy in my chest as a myriad of emotions coursed through my veins.
With my looming deadline, I felt as if I had been pulled in an undertow and flailed to make my way to the surface. Words disappeared from my head, and panic set in.
One of the challenges of finding balance between writing and life is life is so unpredictable.
So what’s a writer to do when something unexpected messes with your deadlines?
If you’re published and writing on a contracted deadline, get your agent involved (reason #4567 why agent are an important part of a writer’s team). When I learned my dad was very sick, I emailed my agent and asked what to do. She promised to take care of it and reminded me my job was to focus on my family. Then she emailed and said my editor had granted me an extension.
Editors are invested in your career too, so they want to do what they can to help you out…within reason, of course. Plus they know life happens, and sometimes circumstances beyond our control will curtail our writing for a little while.
In my case, my family needed me, so I had to focus on them and let my writing sit for a few days. Now that the services are over, I’m able to reassess the stopping point in my novel, review my notes and move forward to meet my deadline.
If you are a published writer, but you don’t have an agent, speak to your editor directly. I’m sure the two of you will be able to work out a satisfactory solution.
If you’re not published, and you’re working on a self-imposed deadline, cut yourself some slack. Take the time you need to get your crisis under control, then return to your computer and open that writing document.
If you’re not published and you have a deadline to submit to a potential agent or editor, determine if you will meet your deadline or if you will need more time. If you need more time, simply email the person and explain the situation. Most likely, they have plenty on their desks to keep them busy.
Life will buckle your knees from time to time. Having a solid writing team helps you keep your priorities aligned when your focus is pulled in many directions. Work through the crisis, then move forward with your writing.
Also, we need to remember we are not in this alone. One of the core values of My Book Therapy is community. When I got the call about my dad, I emailed my MBT Core Team and writing support team asking for prayer because in the days ahead, I had times when all I could do was exhale an “Oh, God….” Their support and encouragement kept my eyes focused where they needed to be…up.