I don’t like writing deadlines. The getting-the-book-in deadline. The art / title deadline. The revisions deadline. The copy-edits deadline. The galleys deadline. None of it. I’m not stupid. I know it’s a part of the biz. I’ve been dealing with the whole shebang now for a dozen years and twenty-five published works.
For one thing, deadlines make me grumpy. At everyone. Family. Friends. The dog. Clients. People who misuse the words vitriolic and rabid. I can’t decide if it’s the work itself or the fact that the work never seems to want to be over. I think I’ve put a project to bed, yet there is always another step.
What I dislike the most, however, is how I treat deadlines. A thing with my psyche, I suppose. I have plenty of time. I don’t use it wisely. I wait and I rush and I panic when I could be taking my time and making things happen bird by bird. I’ve talked about this before. Why a disciplined schedule doesn’t work.
I need the rush, the drowning involvement, the total submersion else I lose the nuances, the feel, the familiarity, the depth. As logical as it seems to write 3 - 5 pages a day 5 days a week, it doesn’t work.
I’ve written these last two books, LARGER THAN LIFE and KISS & MAKEUP, in a furious heat between October and February. Approximately 120 days, 660 pages. This is start to finish. No pondering time. No break. From conception to completion including every step listed above.
I’ve also more closely read both of these books during the revision and copy edit and galley stages than any books before.
I’m worn out over these two books. I also think they’re two of the best books I’ve ever written. And I have to credit the rush of the totally submerged drowning involvement.
THAT DOESN’T MEAN I HAVE TO LIKE IT!
What I want to know is how to produce as richly and creatively without this pain! This seclusion. This insomnia. This 24/7 immersion.
I want something resembling a normal life. *g* Writing from this hour to this hour like SO many authors I know do. They get their writing done as they would do the work required of any career, then they put it away for the day and live their lives, have their fun, cook and work out and shop and what have you.
Why can’t I make that happen? Is it because I can see how much better my work is now than it was when I had a more scheduled life?? WHINE! *gg*
I have no clue! LOL But, I do want to thank you for my book that came in today! THE SWEETEST TABOO sounds so good, and I can’t wait to get started on it. :)
by BJ Deese March 2nd, 2005 at 5:23 pmI’m one of the ones who manages to write within a certain set of hours. But trust me, this is dictated by having children in the house who need a maid, cook and chauffer, rather than me enjoying having a “process”. And btw, the grass is always greener. I’d rather be able to work when I want to, rather than when I have to!
by Jill March 2nd, 2005 at 6:56 pmI often wonder, Alison, if writers (whether they write on a schedule or not) aren’t ‘always’ on…always thinking about their books even when they aren’t writing. I said in a blog a while back that I think being a writer is one career when you never really take a vacation. :)
by Patrice March 2nd, 2005 at 7:08 pmWell, I’ve done both. Written when I had to within certain hours when working, and written on my own schedule. I don’t like either, LOL, but I know my product is better now than then. Being immersed for those panic days makes it so. I just wish it was different! And I agree, Patrice. I’m NEVER not writing, argh!!
by Alison March 2nd, 2005 at 9:06 pmLord, I TOTALLY feel you, Alison… we might be twins under the skin, LOL
by Monica March 2nd, 2005 at 10:47 pmI haven’t experienced much in the way of deadlines in my fiction writing, but there was a lot of it in my technical writing, and I love deadlines. They make me feel needed :) A deadline means there is a contract, things are fixed, you are going to get paid. It’s so unlike writing a book and not knowing whether you are going to interest anyone with it
by Daria March 3rd, 2005 at 2:31 amAmy! Isn’t it a horrid way to write! LOLOL! I’ve spent all week catching up on my backlog and am already now 5 days late getting started on my next project. But I just new if I didn’t get this stuff off my desk that that immersion was going to be impossible!
by Alison March 5th, 2005 at 6:55 pm