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The Fear of Deadlines...Won't Bring Me Down!


The Insecure Writer's Support Group Graphic

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!


Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!


May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

What are my Greatest Fears as a Writer? How do you Manage Them?


Fear of Deadlines...Won't Bring Me Down!


I’ve been publishing since 2018. My biggest fear out of writing is deadlines. They are expected because you need to have some kind of idea of what date you are working towards with each book. I’ve tried not having deadlines, but it doesn’t work out either. The hardest thing about deadlines is having life get in the way. Then you have to push them back and ruin your relationship with your readers.


Over the years, I have struggled with deadlines badly. My first novel was rushed because I couldn’t find the time to write with my kids breathing down my throat all the time. They wanted attention all the time and I couldn’t get things situated. In the end the book wasn’t done to the best of my ability. This led to me struggling with my next project because I felt like I failed as an author. But I shook it eventually because I fell in love with my book and couldn’t stop writing even I tried. I come to learn that it depends on the book if I can write to the best of my ability.


The biggest key to writing fluidly is having a good roughed out idea for the story. I don’t plan outlines to the end of the book. Usually, I will do like the first five to eight chapters of the book in a roughed outline. This allows me to get a good start and flow going with the book. Sometimes I don’t even need to do that. I can jump right in and have no issue what’s so ever.


I guess my fear over deadlines is disappointing my readers. That is why I tell them I will have a goal month for the end of the book. But I won’t set a date because something can always come up to ruin the journey with the book. I am practicing with doing deadlines more. This last month I did the A to Z April Blogging Challenge. I had to post every day except Sunday with a different letter of the alphabet on each day. This was a last-minute decision to join. That meant I gave my list of topics a day to create. I got stuck on a few letters but my friends helped me brainstorm to get those covered.


The first week I went with writing the posts in advance and scheduled them. But then life got in the way so I couldn’t do that the next week. It turned into a daily project to just write the one blog post before 1pm or 4pm. I did this until the end of the month. This helped me get into a writing flow and I got on task with my book too because of this process.


I guess a lot of fear can be broken down into doing small things to help prevent you from being overwhelmed by them. This process really made me open my eyes and I look forward to writing more. I don’t care how long it takes but I will accomplish my goals at some point. The fear of never finishing won’t bring me down.

13 Comments


Nick Wilford
Nick Wilford
11 hours ago

I think "deadline" is a pretty hard, scary word. Thinking in terms of flexible goals might be better. If you're lucky to have loyal readers, hopefully they understand if a book might take longer than expected. We all know life happens!

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The A to Z is good practice for hitting deadlines.

Welcome to the IWSG!

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K.M. Jenkins
K.M. Jenkins
20 hours ago
Replying to

Yeah it is loved every minute of it.

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Tell me about deadlines! That's why I stopped setting them for my writing projects, especially specific dates. Yet having been working on my current book of short stories for three to four years, and after pushing the release of it back several times, I think I'll have to try something you talked about: setting a deadline month as opposed to specific date or just whenever the book gets done. I think that's a really clever way of doing it! Thanks for sharing! Yes, life does get in the way, especially if you're like me and you have a day job and so have to write at night or early mornings

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K.M. Jenkins
K.M. Jenkins
20 hours ago
Replying to

Yeah I usually try to set a month and a schedule for which books I will work on until that month comes. If I have something to publish I will get it through its final stages and get it up on preorder. If I don't I just aim for another month. I have twin boys that need constant attention and I run the house since I'm a stay at home mom. But that doesn't mean I get a lot of free time to write. I don't know how I would do it with having a full time job. That would be madness. I really am proud of how far you come. It really shows how persistence is key.

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Jenni Enzor
Jenni Enzor
3 days ago

I've found that breaking things down into smaller goals really helps too. Sometimes when I'm having a really hard time getting motivated, I give myself person just to look at a writing project I'm working on. It never fails that I end up writing something.

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K.M. Jenkins
K.M. Jenkins
3 days ago
Replying to

That is good advice. I do have some days where I will sit down to just read what I wrote so far in a chapter and find myself writing. Usually my goal is like writing 2 chapters a month or a week depending on my mood. But I like to switch it up so it doesn't get boring.

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Nancy Gideon
Nancy Gideon
3 days ago

If I didn't have a schedule I'd never get anything done! I blame ADD/OCD. Or the phases of the moon. But mainly it's about putting the task on my calendar - then remembering to look at my calendar.

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K.M. Jenkins
K.M. Jenkins
3 days ago
Replying to

Yeah I understand that completely. I had to go through multiple different ways to track my time and projects. Turns out a simple to do list for each day broken down over the week works the best for me.

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