The Approaching End – My Goals for Indie Writing/Publishing in 2012

 
Yes, the end of 2011 is approaching. That's not what I'm talking about (though, yes, that is why I'm talking about this).
 
[image error] Yes, the end of the Mayan calendar is approaching–and with it, possibly, a scenario not unlike what I wrote about in my short story, "Baptism". But that's not what I'm talking about either.
 
What I'm talking about is me trying something new in 2012: Deadlines.
 
Specically, writing deadlines. As in, "This book must have a completed first draft by ." And, while I'm at it, publishing deadlines.
 
I have written to deadlines all of twice. Three times, if you include A Short Story a Day. But the ASSAD deadline was simply "finish the story *today*". Which doesn't really count.
 
My non-fiction books about game development, The Indie Game Development Guide and Serious Games: Games that Educate, Train & Inform, were books I wrote with publisher contracts. And both contracts specified deadlines. I hit the deadline on the first one easy. The second book was a struggle–possibly because I had a co-author on that one.
 
Anyway, I've never given myself deadlines for my fiction writing.
 
Because I HATE DEADLINES.
 
The reason, I think, that I so hate deadlines stems from my software development background. Software development cannot be held to a deadline. Managers pretend software can be developed on a schedule, and programmers are usually too naïve to know better–or too optimistic. Deadlines imply a schedule, and schedules are a fool's game.
 
Life is easier if you can leverage your attitudes about Thing A (like software development) for Thing B (like writing). And I think that's what I did. I simply picked up my dislike of deadlines in software, and applied it to writing.
 
On the other hand, I think I could be excused for this in the case of my first novel attempts. When I was writing that (still unpublished) novel, I had an outline, but I didn't yet have enough useful experience with my writing speed, my ratio of outline to completed manuscript, or even whether I would stick to the project at all.
 
Now, though, I have experience with all of those. I know about how much time it takes me to write 500 words, or 1000 words, or even 2000-3000 words. I start outlining/designing my novels with a target length in mind, and have found that I usually end up somewhere near that number. And I can and do finish writing projects.
 
To put it another way: If I have my outline ready, I can tell you, based on the target length, about how long it will take me to write the novel to completion.
 
I can predict a completion date (barring the unforeseen). To which I can then add a bit of time, using my experience in software development (just assume the unforeseen will make itself seen). And, finally, I can then say that's my deadline.
 
Sounds simple, I agree. But my aversion to deadlines runs deep. The whole thing smells fishy to me. But I have to stop equating writing novels with developing software. That will be my challenge for 2012. That, and actually maintaining my writing schedule to hit the deadlines I'm setting for myself.
 
My goals for the new year aren't especially grandiose or impressive, but they do contain an element of challenge.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing how well I do.
 
-David
 
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