Aug 29

Fall is always a season of change. Kids go to school. Schedules move from summer activities to fall back-to-school--parent teacher meetings, sports gear up, band practice. How is a writer supposed to keep going as if nothing has changed? Some writers plan their deadlines around changes in seasons and holidays. I know a writer who wrote all her books in the fall and winter and took summers off. Others write year round while most of us write when we can. It comes down to this: if you don't plan ahead then your writing will suffer. Publishers count on winter holidays as slow times and summers being slow times and schedule accordingly. They know that people are prone to take vacations and attend conferences and it is difficult to get board meetings where everyone is available to get behind the new list and discuss who they want to buy. Publishers plan accordingly. As writers- we have lives and family and work and if we are lucky conferences. The very best thing you can do for yourself-especially if you are not yet published, is to create work deadlines that give you specific times off or at the very least account for changes in family and season. Self-imposed deadlines are the best way to get in the habit of writing like a professional. If you are in the habit of working around life then when you publish you will be better able to roll with the times.

Do you set your own deadlines?