One thing that's been beaten into me at Taylor is deadlines are everything. You meet the deadline, you become your publisher's best friend. You miss it, you mess up the publishing chain, which could result in you missing your print date. And no one wants to miss their print date.
Well, I wanted to send my proposal back to the agent I talked about last week by yesterday. I scheduled it out, every fine detail, so that I could get it back in a timely manner. Well, I didn't account for school. And the fact I'm currently in quarantine. Needless to say, I didn't make my deadline. Don't worry: it was a deadline I set for myself. I'm the only person screwed over for missing it. But it still stinks. I feel like I can't hold myself accountable to get things done in a timely fashion. If it's homework or if I'm doing something for someone else, 99% of the time, I get it done on time. (Even with minor procrastination.) But when it comes to me, I can't hold a deadline. Something I've started doing is scheduling out what writing or editing I need to get done by using something called a Gantt chart. While I was taking engineering courses during high school, we talked about Gantt charts, and how engineers use them to schedule out their projects so they don't fall behind. Everything they need to accomplish is on the chart, whether it's a big job or something as simple as creating that chart in the first place. They're helpful, and normally effective. So, I stole that concept and started applying it to my writing. Currently, I have three different charts going: my book proposal (which I extended the deadline to the thirteenth so I can finish editing), editing and re-writing the rest of the first book in the Dynasty River mystery series (finishing by 10/15), and finishing the second draft of book two (finishing by 10/14). Somewhere down the road, I'll be adding re-writing book three and editing book four. I'm not saying I'm going to follow the chart perfectly. I'm human, and also a full-time college student. But I'm training myself for the real world. I even gave myself buffer days in case I really get behind, or really need a break. Scheduling is something that's never going away, so I might as well get a head start on it now. If this is something you want to learn more about or want to see an example of, I'm willing to put together a YouTube video showing how to create a Gantt chart. I find them helpful, and I want to provide other writers with scheduling systems that work. Let me know if that's something that would interest you! Happy Writing!
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L.P. MetzgerJust a girl with a dream, but you already knew that. Archives
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