The whooshing sound of deadlines

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

Most people have a love hate (or a hate hate relationship) with deadlines. Knowing a project has an end can be motviating, terrifying and just a little bit of both. I love deadlines. Knowing that I have a certain amount of time to complete a project brings out my inner racer and I want to beat that deadline. It also brings out my inner procrastinator and I want to wait as long as possible to start. It's a terrible combination, like tying my shoelaces together right before a big race, and then crawling along the race instead of running.

Finding what works best for you is a big part of the creative life, but whether you like them or not, deadlines are always going to come into play. Whether their deadlines you give yourself, or deadlines hoisted upon you by outside forces, they're going to come for you. You need to learn to work with them even if you might not like them.

Work backwards from your deadline. If something is due in four weeks, figure out what you need to have finished every day to meet that goal. Need 300 pages edited in 4 weeks? 300 pages divided by 4 weeks ( 28 days) is roughly 11 pages a day. Breaking it down into bitesize pieces often helps make a project seem less overwhelming than it actually is. You can also use it to predict how long a project will take. If you're trying to write a 90,000 word novel and know you average 1,500 words a day then you can estimate that it will take you 60 days to finish that project. Knowing your own speed and creating your own timeline oftens helps you stay in control of your projects and keep moving forward even when you're not sure what to do.

Deadlines are great because they give you a target to aim for. They make me feel like I know where the goal post is and how long it's going to take me to get there. Without those, I end up lost and confused, wandering around without any clear direction. I'm easily distracted and I need the focus that a deadline gives me.

Some people however seem to shut down the second a deadline enters the picture. There's some sort of mental shut down that makes deadlines into the enemy. I think the best thing to do here is keep moving forward and writing the day away. There's no shame in that; you've got to work on things nd see them through to the end.

Writing to a deadline is one of the things I love about NaNoWriMo. It's got a clear goal post, it's well-defined, and easy to know if you made it or not. Did you write 50,000 words by the end of November, yes or no? It's a goal post that's easy to define and you know what it requires. How many words a day do you need to write? What do you need to change to make that happen?

Knowing the goal let's you adjust your other needs and balance to find what to do. Set a dealine and see what happens.

Friday Review: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

I was thrilled when Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert was released. It arrived on my doorsteps in all its hardback gorgeousness and I dove right in, reading the whole thing over the course of two days during a vacation. Eat, Pray, Love never hit me with the magic that it affected so many other people with but I fell in love with Gilbert's Ted Talk about muses and creativity. 

The first time I heard her talk, I rolled my eyes and snorted at her discussion of magic. It all sounded too abstract for me. The second time, I listened a little closer and found her saying a lot of things I agreed with. I don't know if I will ever 100% agree with everything she says but I do really like several of her points and I couldn't wait to have a longer chance to hear about her ideas. Big Magic is that longer discussion I was waiting for. 

Gilbert believes in both the magic and the work of a creative life. What I found most refreshing was her belief that having a job to support your creative habit is not some shameful thing but is instead a vital and important part of the creative life. Not starving is always a nice bonus. 

It's interesting to hear about her own struggles, worries and challenges with writing. We tend to think of someone like her, who had a smash hit, as a success and that's it, but the pressure of following up on such a success could easily swallow her whole, Gilbert doesn't let it and keeps working, chasing after the ideas that touch her hand and ask to be taken along. 

My favorite story in the entire book is the idea of the rain forest story that jumped from her to Ann Patchett with a kiss. I've had a similar thing happen and at first, felt betrayed that my idea had been stolen, but the truth is, that idea was no more mine than the air I breathe. It's something I touched, loved and held onto but not something I had any claim on. 

I found Big Magic incredible reassuring about the entire creative process. No matter how analytical or practical you get about writing (or any creative endeavor) there will always be a piece of magic to it, a diving into the unknown, grasping, hoping and knowing that something is going to grab back. That's why I keep creating, the magic that bites back and holds tight to my skin, driving me to work. 

If you're looking to learn about other creative's processes, reassurance you're not crazy, or just a blunt, honest look at writing, I think Big Magic is an excellent addition to your library and a great book to grab when you need a pick me up and a reminder that to create is to commit to making (and being a part of) magic. 

You can buy Big Magic here.

Moonlight and Magnolias!

This year I went to the Georgia Romance Writer Association's Moonlight and Magnolias for the first time and I had an incredible time. I was really nervous going into the conference because I'd never been and I didn't know anyone who was going to be there. It turned out to be one of the most fun, informative conferences I've ever been to. 

Everyone was beyond friendly, before I'd been there ten minutes I'd already made new friends and was getting all kinds of great advice on how to make the most of my time at the conference. 

For the first time ever, I pitched agents and editors and I didn't burst into flames once! I actually spent all day Friday taking cancelled pitch sessions and ended up chatting with 7 agents and/or editors. Out of those 3 requested fulls, and 2 requested partials. The other 2 didn't represent my genre but we still had great chats about books and writing. 
Jana Oliver gave a great speech during lunch about not quitting and her own path to success. It was really inspiring to hear! 

Saturday I went to several workshops and learned a lot of new techniques and tips to try out. I think my favorite was learning about storyboarding your novel. I had a lot of fun cutting up pictures and making a collage of inspiration. I'll definitely pull that out in the future. Chris Marie Green gave a really fun but moving speech about her own struggles with publishing and her path through the ups and downs. She themed everything with TV shows and it was really engaging to listen to. 

The evening was the Maggie Awards and one of the things i was most excited about! There aren't many chaces to get dressed up like a princess so I was happy to have the chance to throw on a dress and heels. Because I wasn't staying at the hotel, I actually ended up getting dressed in the bathroom and made several friends who were doing the same thing. Nice to know there'll always be somewhere there to zip your dress up! 

The ceremony was lovely. There were a lot of beautiful tributes and speeches and it was so exciting seeing how many people cheered for one another. When the awards were over the dance floor opened up and partying fully commenced. I had a great time during the few songs I danced to! 

Sunday was the day of goodbyes and while I hated telling everyone bye, I know I'll see many of them soon when I visit the Georgia Romance Writer's next meeting! :)

All in all I was amazed at how welcoming and supportive everyone was. All of the authors were thrilled to meet new authors and share wisdom. Everyone was so passionate and in love with writing that I came home ready to write my heart out on new and old projects. It's hard to be around so many incredible people and not leave inspired! 

"Books are written with time stolen from other people"

Selfish.

It's a word that plays on repeat in my brain. On a good day I'll only hear it once or twice. On a bad day it plays a song that lasts from the moment my eyes open to the second I finally drift to sleep.

One of the things that I struggle the most with writing is the selfishness that it requires. I don't mean the Gollum hoarding type of selfishness, I mean the 'I have to go lock myself in my bedroom for the entire evening rather than hang out with my friends/family' sort of selfishness.

I've always been very bad at saying no or not doing something for someone else. I am a people pleaser at my very core, and I struggle with any time I have to say no to doing something for someone. I have a terrible case of balloon hand where I volunteer for tasks that pop up and cut away from my time.

I want to help everyone and do everything for all of the people I care about. I will drop everything and drive eight hours through the night if someone really needs me to. But the problem with that is that I constantly give away time that I need to spend on my writing.

What I probably struggle the most with is writing in the evenings when my roommates are home. I adore my roommates and it's rare that we're all home at the same time so I want to savor that, but I struggle to get much work done when camped out in the living room half listening to a conversation, and half plotting on how to kill the troublesome centaur in chapter 3.

I'm half everywhere and getting nothing done.

I recently read the quote that became the title of this post, "Books are written with time stolen from other people" and as much as I've searched the Internet I can't figure out who said it (if you know please tell me!). But this quote is probably one of the truest things I've ever read. The time spent on writing is time not spent doing something else, and a lot of  that means cutting time with people you love.

How do you get around it?

For me, I'm starting to adjust myself to getting up earlier in the morning and trying to write then. I'm looking at a few other options to see if I can make the time I need without feeling like I'm cutting contact with the people I love, because while writing can be a lonely job, you need contact with people and a support network for the inevitable swings that writing brings.

I think this problem is particularly an issue when you work full time, because after that 8-10 hours a day are gone, there's not many hours left to fit in everything else. To everyone with children, and spouses, I admire your dedication even more. I'm single, childless and still stress about time on a daily basis.

The truth of the matter is that there is no way to just magically 'find' time in your day like a discarded nickel found in the washing machine. You make time, you carve it out from the flesh of the day and you have to leave pieces behind because there just isn't enough to go around. The important thing is to be aware of what you're cutting out, and to take control of the hours you can free.

The Productivity Ninja Lied To You

Sharing time! I'm obsessed with productivity tips and blogs. Articles like '7 Habits Only Happy People Have' and '12 Ways You Waste Time Every Day' devour my morning and leave me feeling productive even when I have literally just spent 3 hours on LifeHacker and have nothing to show for it but chapped lips, dry eyes and a lingering sense of guilt. 

While I love reading about these tips, it's just because it feels productive without me having to actually do anything hard. Reading an article? Psssha, that's easy work and a total time waster, but this article will teach me how to optimize my morning so I get everything done and become a productivity ninja! 

That's not to say that these articles don't share good advice or fun tidbits of information that make you feel great about yourself. (I mean, did you know that millionaires tend to smile a lot. I smile a lot, I'm totally on the way to being a millionaire since we have so much in common.) However, at some point it's time to stop with the fun articles and buckle up for a ride. 

Accomplishing things sucks sometimes. Even things you're excited about can be hard to motivate yourself for. I love the novel I'm working on but some days the last thing in the world I want to do is park my cute, little butt in a chair and sit (or stand) at my desk to write. I love the story, the characters, everything, but UGH WHY CANNOT I TELEPATH MY STORY INTO PEOPLE'S HEADS?

But the work is necessary. There are some ways that might make it easier. For example, setting a timer and racing to see how many words I can type in 25 minutes (My best record was 2,003 whoo!) gets me typing and having fun. Some days though, that just doesn't work. I sit at my computer for an hour and type three words and ignore the timer. 

It's a matter of working with myself and knowing that sitting down to work is the only way this project will get done. So yeah, I might pop on Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or the whole of the Interwebs, but eventually I fall back into my work because I know I have to or it won't happen. A simple motivation? Maybe, but it's the one that stays constant. 

I still dream of being a productivity ninja who talks about how I rise at 5am to go on a 6-mile run before having a kale smoothie and meditating for twenty minutes, but I don't think I ever will be. And I'm totally okay with that. But what I can do is work with what I am, which is a procrastinating over-achiever who wants to live in a Real Simple magazine but would only break everything I touched there. 

And that's okay because who wants a kale smoothie anyways? 

How to not be a sad potato

Being surrounded by incredibly talented people and feeling totally overwhelmed seems to pounce on every creative person I know. At most conventions I go to, including DragonCon, sometimes I sit and think, 'Wow, everyone around me is so talented and accomplished and I am a potato who somehow toppled into this party by mistake.' 
The feeling goes by many names but imposter syndrome is the most recent and seems to have connected with a lot of people. It's a feeling everyone seems to get in one way or another. Some of the people I admire most in the world have admitted they feel the same way; that at any second, someone is going to ask 'What are you doing here? You don't belong.' and that will be the end of your charade as a potato trying to make it in this crazy world. 
What makes dealing with this even more challenging is that the voice telling you that you don't belong sounds so rational. 'Your friend has an agent and five books out. Your mentor has written 15 novels. What have you done?' 
It sounds totally logical to you and that makes it seem all the more real. The feeling starts small and soon you're sitting in silence, scared to say anything in the conversation because what if that statement accidently outs you as a fake? Besides, it's not like you, little potato, can contribute to the discussion anyways. 
There's not an easy way to deal with the feeling. If there were it wouldn't be such a phenomena effecting so many people in so many different industries. Social media certainly doesn't help either. On the internet you see the polished up, filtered and perfectly hashtagged life that someone is creating, not the three hours they spent that morning staring at the wall because they couldn't get a word onto the page. 
Here are five things that have helped me overcome potato feels and start being a functioning member of the world again. 

1. Do something. Anything. 
It can be something as little as cleaning a part of your desk, sending an email you've been meaning to send, or reading a book in your to be read pile. Accomplishing something can help give you a boost of feel-good energy to get back on your feet. 

2. Help someone else. 
Somewhere out there is someone looking at you and thinking you're the most talented, lucky person in the room. Someone out there wants your help. Help someone and get out of your own head for just a little while. The space will help. 

3. Write for 10 minutes. Or even just five. 
Write anything, everything. It doesn't have to make sense; just write out anything that pops into your head, get it out of your head and into the universe. Try to write past the point that it's all negative.

4. Tell someone you feel like a potato. 
Find that one friend you can confess to. Saying the words out loud helps take some of their power away, and I bet your friend will say they feel that way too. You're not alone. 

5. No one knows what they're doing. 
Really listen to the people around you. When I open my ears and stop wallowing in my own self-pity and potatoness I hear that my friends don't know what they're doing. They all have things going wrong and are trying to do the best they can with what they have. 

There's no quick and easy cure for feeling this way, but it isn't a permenant place you have to stay in. You're not an imposter and don't let that fear stop you. 

                                                                        Thanks to the amazing Emily's Diary for creating this image.