This is a guest post by Corinne Ledling, a businesswoman who’s very passionate about her job. She’s a Content Manager at Bizstats.co.uk and in her free time, she loves to read mystery books and write short stories. When she suggested a post about deadlines, I just had to accept. Because, deadlines, right??
Are Deadlines Necessary For Writing?
I have been writing for over a decade, and have written hundreds of articles, eBooks, and even scripts during this time.
I am proud of the fact that I have never missed a deadline, but I often sit and wonder if deadlines are even necessary in this line of work.
Writing is a creative job at the end of the day, and creativity cannot be bounded. However, today all businesses have deadlines, and fortunately (or unfortunately) writing has become a business as well.
Writers are bombarded with tasks that are to be completed within a specific time period.
It is quite understandable why this happens. Magazines have to be published every month, articles have to be uploaded daily, books have to be published in time for holidays, and PRs have to be released before the occurrence of the event they are about. Time is of the essence and one cannot be late.
You can delay a project if you are not working for someone, but you cannot delay it if you have a deadline to meet. This is not necessarily bad. Consider J.K.Rowling, who is believed to have taken six years to write her first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but only one year each to complete the next two books in the series. While there are many reasons why the first book took so long, the fact that she had deadlines for the other books cannot be neglected.
Deadlines are important because they help you plan ahead and prioritize your work. A deadline is like that finishing line on a race track. A race against time makes you start running on time, cover as much ground as you can and, most importantly, finish the race before time runs out. Same is the case with deadlines for writing: you start early to make sure your job is done by the deadline.
But are deadlines absolutely necessary for writing?
There can be no one-word answer to this. Since I am a writer, I can tell you that each writer works at their own pace. But here, we are not talking about writing as a hobby. We are talking about writing as a career, and when you choose it as a career, you must learn to respect deadlines.
So, why are deadlines important in the field of writing?
Deadlines Are Necessary To Achieve Goals
If you want to be successful in writing, you must be goal-oriented. If you want to be goal-oriented, you must take deadlines seriously.
Consider George R. R. Martin, the famous The Song of Ice and Fire saga writer. He is notorious for being slow and missing deadlines. Do not get me wrong, I love Martin’s work and Game of Thrones is easily one of my favorite shows, but the fact remains that he is often criticized, not only by critics but by his fans as well.
In Martin’s case, many say that he has achieved a lot and has no goals to achieve anymore, which is why he is slow. But if you want to achieve goals, you cannot be like Martin.
Clients Don’t Like To Wait
Clients provide deadlines for a reason. They want to finish one project and start the next one. If a writer is making them wait, then they’ll simply look for other writers. That’s not what you would like to happen now, would you?
Deadlines Promote Responsibility and Reliability
When you give someone a deadline, you are passing them the responsibility of getting the work done in time. You are also implying that you rely on them to finish the job.
You trust puts pressure put on people; a tactic that is also said to improve end results. Writers work day and night to prove to be reliable–and expect to be appreciated in return.
Focusing And Prioritizing
When you are given deadlines, you start prioritizing your work. You set up a timetable and focus more on the work rather than other things; in other words, deadlines don’t let you get distracted.
Moreover, deadlines help you concentrate on single projects. It is important to complete one project before you move to the next or you may end up making a mess out of everything.
Conclusion
It can become daunting for writers to focus and complete writing projects if they aren’t working on deadlines. However, deadlines should always be set clearly and with much care. You cannot really write a 100,000-word novel in a week now, can you?
I ghostwrite crime novels for two clients in rotation and find deadlines necessary not just logistically, but creatively. They help me develop a sense of urgency, which improves pacing and helps me to hit the ending efficiently. When I write for myself, I can take YEARS to achieve exactly the same quality of results. I will take all the time I give myself… and then some more.
Ah, but then the question is, do you feel your own books are any better for the extra time?
Good question… More time is often a can of worms. If I get some, I only need more!
Erm, more what? Worms? 😀
Indeed 😉
Great share! Of course deadlines are essential. We may be our own boss but we have to impose deadlines. If we didn’t, should we expect whenever our book is ready we’ll just send it off to the editor assuming they have nothing to do but wait for our work? Writing is creative, but once we wish to publish, there’s a list of things to organize to make that publishing date come to fruition. 🙂
Good point!
🙂
Thanks for the article, Nicholas. I agree, deadlines are useful to the creative mind, just like a jazz standard on which creativity can improvise 😉
Sweet metaphor 😀
Thanks!
Loved her article and confirmed my thoughts on deadlines. Thank you for sharing consistent valuable information. ???
Aw, thank you so much, Carolyn 😀
Great topic for a post, Nicholas. I don’t have any deadlines other than the ones I give myself, and yet, I think they’re important. Partly for focus and prioritizing as you pointed out, which is huge. But I know, personally, that I function better with goals, and giving myself deadlines is part of that process. It seems to be part of the shift from “hobby mind-set” to “career mind-set.” The best way to sell books is to write more books, and deadlines are a big help in that effort.
And I’m still mad at Martin for not finishing that series! There are a few writers that I’ve given up on because ten years have passed and they haven’t finished their trilogies! That’s a case, where deadlines are necessary out of pure respect for one’s readers. (My favorite rant!)
Rant away! After all, I, too, am waiting for Martin to finish! It’s why I still haven’t watched any episodes…
I binge-read all the books (he’d written) before the very first episode. The tv series is so different that I won’t return to finish the book(s) when finally done. It would be too confusing. *Sigh*
Oh no! Deadlines? Another reason why i don’t want to write a book… 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
Lol – fair enough! Although you’re your own boss when you self-publish, so there’s that 😉
Since I retired, I have forgotten what a ‘deadline’ is. 🙂
Not necessarily true; I’ll bet a certain dog has a pretty specific daily deadlines when it comes to his daily walkies 😀
Ah, canine deadlines. That’s very true. 🙂