As we move from writing for pure pleasure to writing for intent, deadlines become a part of our life. If we are seeking an agent, we may have built in a personal deadline that we find is adjustable when life happens. After all, we’re not under contract, so why not move that deadline and worry about finishing a chapter later?

Sometimes it’s because we don’t find worth in sitting down for twenty minutes and so it’s easy to continue to push our personal deadlines even further out. But then there comes a time when we’ve signed with the agent, we’ve signed that publishing contract. Now we have to develop those work habits to meet deadlines.

Why do I bring this up?

I recently found myself in a season of deadline after deadline after deadline. When I originally sat down and looked at my calendar, performed a self-reflection on my writing performance, I set a timetable I felt was manageable. Granted, all the deadlines were a little tight, but I know my work ethic and what I’m capable of producing. Suffice to say, life attacked and suddenly my doable deadlines were a little restricting. Okay, so I’m glossing over how stressed I was knowing I had two manuscripts to turn in in the same month, galley edits tossed in between, and an indie-pubbed Christmas novella I needed to write as part of a group anthology as well.

This is what saved me in a season of deadline after deadline after deadline.

1) Discipline

I can’t stress this point enough. Sometimes the only thing we need to correct is ensuring we’re coming to the laptop, day after day, with the commitment to meet our individual deadlines. I knew how many words I had to write each day to hit that point to finish the manuscript and give myself time to go back and read for editing purposes and adding in suggestions from critique partners. If I hadn’t built in discipline previously to the deadlines, I would have drowned.

2) Saying No

This is a tough one for me as I don’t like to disappoint people. But sometimes I had to say no to that endorsement request. Say no to another project. Say no to social media if I needed to be writing. Say no to that book on my TBR pile because I hadn’t yet reached my goal. Saying no created boundaries for me that enabled me to cross off deadlines from my to-do list.

3) Grace

Did I mention life attacked? In the midst of my looming deadlines, I had a change of address, two kids go back to school, health issues, and those deadlines that were still waiting. I had to give myself grace knowing that this wasn’t what my “normal” writing season looked like. I had to give myself grace in relaxing on the weekend instead of pressing forward. I knew if I didn’t rest, I’d quickly burn out. I also had to accept grace when I asked for extensions because life just wasn’t going to allow me to meet my initial goals.

4) Rewards

Nothing beats turning in that manuscript then rewarding yourself for the hard work you’ve accomplished. You just wrote a novel! Celebrate no matter how many you’ve written. No matter how many times you’ve edited said novel. No matter how many other deadlines remain on your calendar. Let yourself read that novella. Let yourself celebrate with a movie you’ve been dying to stream. Rewarding yourself fuels you on to the next deadline and keeps the burnout at bay.

What tips do you have for surviving deadlines?

Until next time,

Toni Shiloh