When we think of deadlines, we tend to think of the date that it’s due to release it to the world. While that’s my starting point, I usually have more than ten deadlines.
In this case, my big deadline is November 28th. That’s the date that I want to be ordering my big shipment of books. It’s really December 5th, but I’ve found it smarter to automatically subtract a week. According to November 28th, I’ll work backwards.
The first three steps of breaking your book-idea down are:
1 Making a list of everything you know you want to add.
2 Expound on that list.
3 Add due dates by steps one and two.
I first needed to add a deadline to step one, making a list. For me, that was August 7th. I gave myself seven days to do it. I’ve since flipped the script and changed my mind on what I want to write about. So my list here and on the initial page about making a list differs a bit. Here are a few elements from my new list:
- 2007
- You
- Jesus
- Mom
- Tupac
- Peace
- Hair?
- Step-dad
Expounding on your list
Expound means to explain. This is the step where you flesh it out. In step one, you made a bullet point, a list. Looking at my bullet points, you probably have no clue where I’m going with those things. That probably sound random as hell.
In step two, you flesh it out. I personally like to go ahead and dive straight into the chapter, but some people prefer to pace it a bit slower. For me, as a diver, I take something off my list and go ahead and make it a chapter. Waders, which is what I call writers who plans a little more meticulously, will take their list and probably make sub-points from it. It’d look something like this:
– 2007 (eviction, jail, heartbreak, sending son to his dad, three jobs, car accident, moving in with mom, etc.)
– You (meeting, first time having sex, blend Teyana lyrics, patience + grace, walking away, etc.)
From there, you might go back and detail it a bit more without exactly fleshing it out into a full chapter. The extent at which you break down this step, doesn’t matter much, but the way you keep yourself focused and on scheduled is by adding deadlines to your expounding.
Adding deadlines to your expounding
As a diver, my deadlines would determine when my chapters need to be done. Some divers can say I want to write about 2007 and Jesus in the next seven days, and the following week, I’ll write about my mom and Tupac. If that works for you, go for it. If you’re unsure, try it. If it doesn’t work, then try my way.
Personally, I can’t say what I’ll feel like writing about in the future. Instead of determining when I’ll write which essays, I just say that I need to write two essays by August 21st, another three by August 28th, and because the week of the 28th is pretty busy for me, I’ll only add one. By September 11th, I want to have four more done. By November 28th, I want to be ordering my big box, so I need to be down with my chapters by October 3rd.
Waders, especially depending on how much you actually plan before you start writing, will want to add more time to their step one. Whereas I gave myself a week, you may want to give yourself two weeks or more. I’ve also noticed that waders work better when they let someone else in on this stage of their process. If that’s you and you’d like to talk it out and have me look over your list, check out my two-hour Fundamental Strategy Session.
How to determine how much time to give yourself
Pace your deadlines to your expounding according to your big deadline. In addition to writing the book, I’ll also have to get it edited (about four weeks), I’ll want a couple beta readers to give me their feedback (about two weeks), it’ll have to be formatted to look like a book page instead of a Microsoft Word document (about a week), and I’ll have to order a proof and review that (about a week). Although I’ll need a book cover, I don’t add its time because I’ll have that done while my book is being edited/formatted. Between the editing, reviewing, formatting, and proofing, it’ll take eight weeks just to do those things. If I count eight weeks back from November 28th, that gives me October 3rd.
*Books that are more than 100 pages generally take longer than four weeks to edit. If your book is at least 200 pages, plan in advance for eight weeks to edit yours.
Is it just me, or does it seem like once you’ve subtracted those weeks for production stuff, you have damn near no time left?
If you need to adjust your big due date, then do so. If you can’t (or just don’t want to) and it’s still vigorous, I wrote a post on why you don’t need to trip because you’ve flipped the script on what you want to write about. I also included some mojo-enhancing tips that will be your best friends in the case of having a lot to do in a little bit of time. Check it out here.
Of course, if you have any questions about making deadlines, drop a comment below.