Today, in honor of the break-neck deadline many of us have imposed upon ourselves for NaNoWriMo, I want to remind everyone that writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint.
Many of us live our life with deadlines, and in the past I've often written about the importance of deadlines, but for anyone who is feeling the crushing grip of anxiety that comes from knowing that--short of divine intervention--you will not be meeting your NaNo (or whatever) goal this month of year, I want to remind you that meeting that deadline--or not--isn't the end of the world.
Self-imposed deadlines are good, and striving to meet them is healthy, but rather than setting them up as the be-all, end-all, let me offer some counter advice, especially when it comes to editing:
Take. Some. Time.
Take some time between finishing your first draft and jumping into editing. Take some time between finishing that first edit and jumping into the second round.
There are stories out there about books that take 10 or 20 years to write and publish, and although that might be a longer timeframe than many of you are comfortable with, remember that it also isn't necessary to pump out several books a year. Or even one a year.
Once you've finished your rough draft, however long that may take, take some time to let the story settle. Step away for a week or a month, brainstorm new ideas for, or step away from writing altogether and spend your time reading, or painting, or playing Madden 2019 and waiting to see how long you can play before the music drives you crazy.
Take some time to come back refreshed and recharged, instead of burned out on your story.
Take some time, but not too much.
Set yourself a goal for when to come back. No shorter than two weeks, no longer than two months. Mark it on your calendar, or set a notification on your phone, and on that pre-ordained day, sit back down and get back to work. If you don't start then, it's too easy to walk away from that book for years, letting it languish in a drawer or a dusty corner of your hard drive, filled with potential it will never reach without your attention.
So give yourself two weeks or two months, then get back to work. Take some time to rest, then make some time to edit. Few people enjoy editing as much as they enjoy writing, but it's a necessary process. And when you've edited it as much as you can, if you have aspirations of publishing, hire an editor to take it a step further.
Many of us live our life with deadlines, and in the past I've often written about the importance of deadlines, but for anyone who is feeling the crushing grip of anxiety that comes from knowing that--short of divine intervention--you will not be meeting your NaNo (or whatever) goal this month of year, I want to remind you that meeting that deadline--or not--isn't the end of the world.
Self-imposed deadlines are good, and striving to meet them is healthy, but rather than setting them up as the be-all, end-all, let me offer some counter advice, especially when it comes to editing:
Take. Some. Time.
Take some time between finishing your first draft and jumping into editing. Take some time between finishing that first edit and jumping into the second round.
There are stories out there about books that take 10 or 20 years to write and publish, and although that might be a longer timeframe than many of you are comfortable with, remember that it also isn't necessary to pump out several books a year. Or even one a year.
Once you've finished your rough draft, however long that may take, take some time to let the story settle. Step away for a week or a month, brainstorm new ideas for, or step away from writing altogether and spend your time reading, or painting, or playing Madden 2019 and waiting to see how long you can play before the music drives you crazy.
Take some time to come back refreshed and recharged, instead of burned out on your story.
Take some time, but not too much.
Set yourself a goal for when to come back. No shorter than two weeks, no longer than two months. Mark it on your calendar, or set a notification on your phone, and on that pre-ordained day, sit back down and get back to work. If you don't start then, it's too easy to walk away from that book for years, letting it languish in a drawer or a dusty corner of your hard drive, filled with potential it will never reach without your attention.
So give yourself two weeks or two months, then get back to work. Take some time to rest, then make some time to edit. Few people enjoy editing as much as they enjoy writing, but it's a necessary process. And when you've edited it as much as you can, if you have aspirations of publishing, hire an editor to take it a step further.
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