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

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?

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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.