Me, in December: I’ll have this first draft finished by the end of the month, and then I can start on the book I’m supposed to be writing!
Me, in January: Uh … I’ll have this draft finished by the end this month. Or … maybe February. Yup. No problem. And if I don’t, then it’ll have to be set aside until I’ve finished the first draft of the book I’m supposed to be writing. Pinky swear.
Me, partway through February: After all, the Olympics only come once every two years. Writing can take a back seat for a couple of weeks. I really need to watch this sport … what’s it called again?
Me, one week before the end of February: So … maybe I can squeeze in 20,000 words in eight days? How badly do the kids need schooling? And what’s wrong with frozen dinners? Who needs clean clothing anyway? Can I squeeze my self-imposed deadline into March? Why do I need a deadline, anyway? I’m an indie author! It’s not like I have a contract to fill! Maybe I can write three books at once. Sure. That’s not so hard, right?
Sigh.
I’m tired.
But the Olympics have been awesome. I just need to figure out how to apply half of the drive those athletes have to my own life, and I won’t have to wrestle with these sorts of problems anymore.
*Snort*
One word: NaNoWriMo. 🙂 There’s nothing like it to make you finish a draft. At least one per year! But you’re right, the Olympics are worth it. You can just tell yourself it’s research, you’ll write something about an athlete someday. No?
The problem for me with NaNo is that November is a crazy month for me. Joy’s birthday at the beginning, and frantically working on Christmas presents for the rest. Frankly, November and December are probably my two least-productive months, writing wise. So it never makes sense to try to do NaNo. Maybe in fifteen years or so, when the kids are grown!