Deadlines in the World of Make Believe

Fairy tales love deadlines. Midnight curfews. Seasonal mandates. Royal decrees with an expiration date. It ramps up the drama to know that not only does a protag have an obstacle to overcome, but there’s also a clock on when it must be completed. Readers love that.

Photo by Jordan Benton on Pexels.com

You know who doesn’t love it? Writers. We put our characters through the ringer, but nothing compares to the rollercoaster of meeting a deadline—especially when you’re an indie pub author. Deadlines are yours to control and without external forces demanding you meet them; they can become ephemeral. Empty. Pointless. It takes an extraordinary amount of discipline to keep to a self-imposed deadline. And sometimes we fall short.

I know I did. I expected to return to my blogging within a month. Three months later I’m finally climbing out of my book edits. And I’m not done, but I…