08/13/2021
Some writers sell the idea for a book or an article but have a hard time following through without a lot of stress. The following article from my latest book, “Tips to Writers from a Book Publisher,” identifies two kinds of stress, the healthy excitement of having a new project to work on and the possible (and sometimes to be avoided) time deadline.
See if this article will help you in your next sizable project, so you can take all the joy you can muster from the experience and let go everything extraneous.
If you would like to help me in some way to promote “Tips to Writers from a Book Publisher” to the world, and receive a free ebook copy of the title, go to the landing page at PathPublishing.com and tell us how you can help. Place your comments in the box that can also be used for leaving book ideas. Please include your e-mail address.
Avoiding Those Doggone Deadlines
Where you can, put an end to deadlines. And if you promise something to someone, try not to give a time for accomplishment, unless the time is short and certain to be completed.
It’s been my experience over the years that there are two kinds of stress involved in many projects. The first is the healthy excitement of having a project to do, perhaps even for money.
The second is the time deadline, which usually only adds unnecessary or unhealthy stress. Then, if problems arise along the way and the job is more complicated than expected, and that is not unusual, the time deadline becomes more stressful.
I’m not saying to avoid goals for projects entirely. I am saying to make everything reasonable and fun.
If you can’t get out of making a deadline, you might try these things...
Break the project into parts, with a mini-deadline for each part. Then you will know how you are doing.
Prioritize every day, or every few days, in a long project, and determine what is most important for you to be doing. For example, if you have to get per-missions from individuals, you need to start that sooner than might be expected. There is no telling what an individual or a company might need or want to see before granting permission.
Work at an important project every day, even if only 15 minutes. If all you do is look over your game plan and say a prayer for its completion, that is a step in the right direction. If you start strong and don’t make your goal for that day, at least you made progress. There is tomorrow!
Delegate part of the project to an associate or farm it out to a professional. The money you spend might be well worth the feeling of knowing you are or will soon be ahead of schedule.
For example, when I was working on a novel for juveniles, I located an excellent researcher who really enjoyed her work and came up with things I would have never found, perhaps never even thought of. Local historical societies can be a source for finding or interviewing informative people.
If problems arise, delegate them to the Holy Spirit or Jesus, and keep working on what you can do. Relax, God is always in control.
Get enough sleep and relaxation. As I have said to myself so many times, “Rest is not a punishment, but a reward.”
In your own mind, move up the final deadline date one week. If the project is very large, two to four weeks. This way, if one part of the project takes a lot longer than expected, or if an emergency happens toward the end, or if a machine breaks down, it is not a crisis situation. You still have your extra, granted time.
And if your project does finish a week ahead of schedule, the editor who sent the assignment to you will most likely be pleased.
In one case I recall, I turned in a manuscript a little ahead of schedule and the editor sent back a note stating that it was not exactly in the magazine’s style, format. But, she had time to take care of that for me, which I appreciated.
In the same article, we had a really hard time getting the person I was interviewing to take a photograph for the front cover of the magazine. An acceptable photograph was turned in at about the same time as the article was due, thank goodness.
We are all dealing with very busy people. Sometimes it’s amazing how long you may have to wait for a simple task to be accomplished because the person doing the work is so spread out with a variety of obligations. Therefore, you need to make allowances, make time estimations part of your game plan.
By following these suggestions, and others you will learn in the coming years, you will become a reliable source for books, articles, and information that other people can depend on. This makes you much more popular in the writing world where people are being paid for their craft.
At the same time, learning to work at a good, steady pace, never giving yourself unreasonable deadlines (or at least seldom doing so), maintains your optimism and your health. And, as I say, avoiding deadlines entirely when you can is even better.
From…
Tips to Writers from a Book Publisher: Making Book Publishing a Fun Adventure
By John Schmidt
Paperback is available at Amazon.com for $9.99, 143 pages.
https://tinyurl.com/yunjccu3
John Schmidt is the author of twenty-six works. To find out more about him and several of the titles, please visit…
His Author Central page at Amazon.com:
https://amazon.com/author/schmidtjohn
Facebook John Schmidt: https://www.facebook.com/john.schmidt.716195
His website is PathPublishing.com.
Facebook Path Publishing: https://www.facebook.com/PathPublishing1993
E-mail him at [email protected].
http://www.pathpublishing.com/ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16
