It’s down to the wire – 2 days to the deadline – and I hate to say it, but I’m not going to make it. 😫 It’s frustrating and stressful, but even if I give up sleep and write non-stop, I won’t have the first draft finished by June 30th.
I don’t know if I gave myself too short a deadline to begin with, or if I might’ve made it if I hadn’t had to rewrite the plot so much. I don’t know if I still might’ve made it if I were in a better place depression/anxiety-wise or if I hadn’t had to work overtime for my regular job.
But it doesn’t matter. Those things did happen, and I’m not going to make the deadline.
Instead of dwelling on that failure and beating myself up for it, though, I want to focus on what happens next. Do I just keep to my writing schedule and finish when I finish? Or do I pick a new deadline to try to keep myself motivated?
In some ways, the deadline has helped. Or it helped until I got too close to it. Then, it added stress and actually made writing harder. So if I do give myself a new deadline, I need to put it far enough out to be realistic and not just give me another too-close pressure that will add more stress than help.
I’m going to need to think about it. Maybe by next week, I’ll have an answer.
Savannah Knightly 