Writers and Time lines for Publishing

When you are writing your first book it seems the book itself is done in a few days. It’s not, there is so much more to do than simply stuff words to a page.  After all the research that goes on in the background it seems the writer has it made.  After all, it’s all about just getting the words out of one’s head and on to the page.  It’s easy, and it’s fast and it’s not that complicated.

It’s just magic.  You have the talent to do this.  The feeling that writing is in your blood and that yo can publish almost anything.

This is where most people would be wrong.

Time lines for publishing are a challenge for new writers.  We love to think there is a magic number of days to write a first draft, and like the books that talk about writing, there is a need for both time and space. A Writer’s Space: Make Room to Dream, to Work, to Write is a good beginning and it’s one which deals with writers.  What it is about is being a writer, and writing a book.  It’s the parts we don’t like to do- the design, the outlines, the planning, the editing, the re-editing.

The problem is most suggestions don’t really talk about time lines, but rather about how to organize your writing as you need to get your work done- or, how to be more creative as a writer.  While they aren’t outright saying you need to have a timeline, but that you need to have some sort of place to write.

Don’t misunderstand me, you need to know how to be creative as a writer, but you need to learn to work with your basic “hates.”  Some people do not like: research. They still have to do it.  There is more to a book than what is written on the page.

All well and good, you need to be creative, and you need to write (r do anything else which needs doing).

The problem is when there is a deadline- I made a deadline based on some of the theories of writers who said write a book in 90 days.  I underestimated a lot of factors with this.  I have other commitments and relationships in my life and if I have time to be ‘creative’ with my writing journey there is usually some type of interruption that will happen.  It’s more than just saying no, it’s about be able to time manage in a world where you have plenty to deal with.  I can count on my fingers how many people say it’s about time management, but they don’t want to admit that they are older, or don’t have the commitments some other people do.

It means I have to find time, even when I’m not interested in writing at that time to meet my deadlines.  I am however, referring to self-imposed deadlines, the ones which I have made, and challenge myself with.  Not the ones which are made by others, for example, if I am sending out manuscripts and I get something back, and I’m given a deadline, this is different.

Time lines for publishing is more about learning to be realistic- it can take more than a year to write an okay book.  If you self-publish, and you can if you want to, you can finish something very quickly, I do not recommend going faster than what you need to do.  I doubt however that method of publishing will be as good as it can be.   This is about seeing your world and your life as it is as a writer.  If you want to make money with what you have written, it is only a starting point.

Take the time to develop a timeline, but be willing to change it as needed so that you can grow as a writer.