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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

If at first you don't succeed... change the goddamn deadline.

Okay. Fine, I admit it.

Perfectionism and a freakin' cold have been interfering with my May 1st deadline.

That's not to say things are far off... they're really not. That damn light is so close I can almost touch it (or get run over by it), but... it's still further off than I'd like.

See, I'm a numbers girl. I know when I've been had. This just happens to be one of those times and I'm a little pissed about it. I hate LOATHE missing deadlines.



I'm currently in the midst of the edits for Chapter 32-- out of what I believe will be roughly 40 chapters. That means I have at least one last chapter that needs to be written completely from scratch, with six left to edit.

Yeah, this is not gonna happen. Not in FIVE days, anyway.


It's not for lack of trying, though. I've been at this sucker all month, working to have a new chapter edit done a day... Has this ever happened to you? You work your butt off, only to see the deadline approach and know there's no way it's possible?


"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." ~Douglas Adams


I mean sure, I could slough off. I was my idea in the first place, right? Most of the chapters are done-- I could just write the ending, pretend I've gone through the last six... I could make this work. You'd never know the difference... but I'd know. And it would eat my brain.

So what to do now? Deadline's looming - I'll probably get another few chapters done between here and there, but it won't be finished. Not the way I set out and intended it to be.

Well, in my world, there's only one thing TO do: Move the goddamn deadline.

8 comments:

Precy Larkins said...

Love the headdesk pic. lol! I hate deadlines too, especially when I miss them.

I say, Move it! You're in control. No sense in cramming work within 5 days. Think quality, not quantity. Goodluck!

Carissa Andrews said...

Thanks, Cherie!

I'll be posting a second blog regarding the deadline-- probably tomorrow. Dang! I hate it when I miss the mark!

TLJeffcoat said...

I know what you mean. I was shooting for a July 4th release and realized I have a major rewrite for my antagonist and it will force a lot of editing throughout the entire story. I would rather it be right so the deadline is now what I call a soft deadline. I'll have to wait before thinking of any hard deadlines. Ugh.

Carissa Andrews said...

Dang! I hate when that happens (realizing you have a major rewrite ahead of you). I agree, though- it's better to have it done right, even if you miss the original date. Mine is still a soft date, anyway, since I haven't sent anything out (queries, etc) - but I feel that looming and I'd like to get it done already! HA!

Are you planning to Indie publish?

Anonymous said...

Funny that you mention this because I have tried .. and I mean REALLY tried imposing self-deadlines but it just doesn't work for me. I just end up telling myself to go blow or something.

What has helped me is to get into a schedule and I don't force myself to write if Im like bone-dry for a story. My free-spirit seems to work better this way and less efficiently when I "have" to. I guess my inner rebellious child has not left yet. Good luck!

Carissa Andrews said...

I'm odd. I love deadlines, Sophie. If I can give myself a goal, I will work towards in ruthlessly. It can be quite a pain for my husband. ;)

Orlando said...

I love deadlines. I could sit and watch them for days.

Cellandra Zon said...

Awe goodluck.