Thursday, November 19, 2015

Beat Writing Deadlines the Smart Way

by Cyle Young @CyleYoung

Beat writing deadlines the smart way!
Do you wish you could beat writing deadlines, the smart way?

Well, now you can!

If you have ever struggled to beat deadlines, or struggled to hold yourself accountable to deadlines that you set yourself, be relieved. Modern research has provided some powerful insight to human psyche.

M.I.T. the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently completed a study. In the study they tested whether or not students who had hard deadlines performed better or worse on their final project scores.

The testing group was broken into three groups. In group one, each student set his or her own deadlines. In group two, hard deadlines were set for the project and the student had no control. For the last group, each student just had to turn all the work in by the end of the class.

The group of students who had total and compete freedom scored the worst and had the worst performance on their work, and the group of students who could set their own deadlines performed average.

But unlike the other groups, the group of students with rigid deadlines that were beyond their control scored substantially better than all other students.

It wasn’t even close.

Writing is an industry that thrives on deadlines. If you want to work in the industry, you must be able to provide quality copy, often on tight deadlines. Whether it’s a writing contest, an agent proposal submission, or a contract deadline with a publishing house, writers need to deliver their work on time—every time.

How can you use this information to not only help you meet or beat deadlines?

Stop setting your own.

If you have a publishing editor or an agent. Ask them to set firm deadlines for you to submit your manuscript, edits, etc. 

If you are not yet represented by a literary agent, and not working on contract with a publishing house, get someone else to set your deadlines for you. This could be a spouse, a relative, or friend.

But is imperative that the person is unyielding and unbending. Give them full authority to pester and annoy you unless you meet your deadlines. And remember no person will want to help you set deadlines for long, if you don’t respect the relationship, and make sure to always turn your work in to them on time.

Do you struggle with keeping your own deadlines? Comment below with ideas or methods that you have tried.

TWEETABLE
Beat #Writing Deadlines the Smart Way - @CyleYoung on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Enlist others to help meet your #writing deadlines - tips from @CyleYoung on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Cyle Young is thankful God blessed him with the uniqueness of being an ADD-riddled…SQUIRREL!...binge writer. Not much unlike the classic video game Frogger, Cyle darts back and forth between various writing genres. He crafts princess children’s stories, how-to advice for parents, epic fantasy tales, and easy readers.

7 comments:

  1. I just told someone this exact thing about myself yesterday! I'm horrible at keeping my own deadlines if it gets too difficult. I won't put in the work. But, if it is a deadline from my editor, I'll do as much research as I need to do to make the article great! Awesome advice! Thanks!

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  2. Oh my goodness, how true this is for me! Thanks for the kick in the pants this morning, Cyle!

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  3. Cyle, Thank you for the info. You know me and last minute posting :)

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  4. Thanks for the valuable information, Cyle. Its a great help.

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  5. That is exactly how I work best. Firm deadlines.

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  6. I've never been one to "work ahead", so this post is definitely encouraging! It's always been easier for me to accomplish a task when the deadline is close.

    Thanks, Cyle!

    Tessa
    www.christiswrite.blogspot.com

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  7. I'm always late when it comes to deadlines, especially if I set them myself. I'm definitely going to try this out.
    Thanks for the tip,

    Queen Of Spades
    www.pickacard6.blogspot.ca

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