Dear Writing Diary Entry #5

The Pros and Cons of Writing on a (Self-Imposed) Deadline

March 30^th, 2024

Dear Writing Diary,

I finished my revisions in a record-time of a little over a week! And while I’m immensely proud of this draft, I’m also glad to be taking a short break from revising while awaiting more feedback. Now that I’ve finished the revisions though, I’ve had time to reflect on what I really love and really don’t like about writing on a tight deadline, even if it’s one that’s self-imposed.

The Good

1)          Focus

I love the sense of focus and immersion into the writing process working on a deadline demands. Despite having a day job, when I revised a little in the morning, a little during lunch, and a lot at night, I was able to keep my thoughts more acutely focused on my writing even when I was doing other tasks. When I’m not on a strict writing deadline, I tend to write less throughout the day and usually mostly at night. This means I don’t wake up early enough to write (I’m a perpetual night owl anyway). And during lunch, I’m more prone to go walking or listen to podcasts instead. While this is honestly a more sustainable routine long-term, for meeting a deadline, it’s a bit too lax.

2)          Sense of Purpose

As a writer and especially over the last handful of months, I’ve found myself often questioning what my goals are as an author and what my ultimate path to publishing will be. I’ve also found myself wondering if my stories will ever even resonate with readers altogether. The beauty of being on a tight deadline though was that I no longer had time or mental capacity to think and worry about these things while I was revising. My purpose in life for those 9-10 days narrowed to one simple thing: finish the revision and in doing so, make my book the best it can possibly be. All my usual insecurities, doubts, and worries about the future were forced to take a back seat because I simply had no extra energy to give them.

3)          Getting it Off My Plate

Even though my deadline was self-imposed, the cause was, in fact, external. My agent never gives me a deadline for my revisions, but I’ve always operated under the mindset that once the book is back on my plate, then I need to work as quickly and effectively as I can to: 1) make the book a better version of itself based on my agent’s feedback, and 2) deliver the book back to my agent so that it might be one stage closer to going out on submission to editors.

4)          Sense of Accomplishment

I believe the crowning jewel of the revision process is the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing the revision. Don’t get me wrong, there SHOULD be a sense of accomplishment (as well as a celebration!) for finishing that first draft as well. But the sense of achievement and pride at finishing a revision is a different but equally rewarding feeling. Completing the first draft is carving out that initial shape of a story from the raw materials swirling in your mind just like a sculptor would carve a sculpture from stone or clay. Each round of revisions then adds more and more details and refines the edges of that initial shape until you’ve (hopefully) built a nuanced and compelling story.

The Bad

5)          Incorporating Other’s Feedback

Unsurprisingly, revisions based on my own internal notes and thoughts on what needs changing are not nearly as challenging as revising based on other’s feedback. What’s even more challenging is when you might not initially agree with another’s feedback or suggested changes to your work. The good news is hearing feedback on your work does get easier. The bad news, I’ve found, is that it only gets easier very very slowly. My first agent, for example, gave me feedback for two rounds of revisions for a book that ultimately didn’t sell as a YA fantasy novel. My second (current) agent, gave me feedback for another two rounds of revisions for the same book but revised to be adult—a book that again did not sell. And then of course, for my current book, I just finished my second round of revisions based on feedback from my current agent. Suffice to say, I’ve had a bit of practice in receiving and incorporating feedback from others on my books. While it’s easier for me to incorporate others’ feedback now, it is and I think will always be a challenge—but one that I will consistently find worthy if it results in a book that is vastly better than the original.

6)          Lack of Sleep

I mentioned in #1 above that I wrote a little in the morning before work, which wasn’t the easiest since I am NOT a morning person and I was staying up even later than usual every night revising. So yah…the lack of sleep was not too fun.

7)          Not Sustainable Long Term

In relation to #1 and #6, unsurprisingly, I simply can’t sustain this accelerated pace of writing for long. After about 2-3 weeks, I’m ready to hit the brakes and return to writing only 1 page a day while also enjoying other hobbies and aspects of life.

Well, there they are, the pros and cons I’ve experience while writing on a self-imposed deadline. Thankfully, I’m not on a deadline now as I am waiting for a colleague and fellow writer’s feedback on my book—feedback that once I receive will likely propel me into another self-imposed deadline and #1-7 all over again. But for now, at least I have the weekend off to enjoy the sound of the rain outside and to relax and read and do whatever I want really.

Here’s to seeing what tomorrow holds (most likely me catching up on sleep!).

-K