“I wish I had more time to write.” -Jayne Anne Phillips
The reason why I was able to write my book, Draw Forth, in nine days was because I was able to completely clear my calendar and fully dedicate the last nine days of December to writing. There were no projects, there were no obligations. All I needed to do was show up and write. And it was awesome!
Then January started, along with my busy season, and this season hasn’t stopped. My busy season is why it’s taken nine months to edit my book after writing the initial manuscript.
And now it looks like it’s going to take ten.
While I am carving out every moment I possibly can to make progress on the finishing details for my book, it’s hard.
After all, being in “book mode” is completely different from being in project mode. Just as I need to be fully present for my clients to do good work, my book demands the same presence and attention. So all of these attempts to make progress here and there, in thirty-minute chunks, has not really worked for me. My book wants dedicated chunks of time–hours at a time–for me to get into the groove and make real progress.
And in a year where nearly every single date on my project calendar has been filled, those chunks of time have been hard to come by.
And so my book pregnancy looks like it’s going to be a week or two late. Instead of going live on September 29th, Draw Forth is probably going to go live in the first part of October.
I cannot tell you how crazy this makes me!
Imagine that you’ve been pregnant for the last nine months, with all of its highs and lows. Your due date is September 29th. At first, it seems so far away as to not be real. After all, there’s still so much to do to develop your baby for the world, and you’ve got plenty of time.
Until, suddenly, you don’t. And you are SO ready for this baby to be in the world, that you’ve marked your due date with stars all over your calendar.
But then your doctor checks things out and says “this baby hasn’t moved into position just yet, so you’re looking at a few weeks longer than we were expecting.”
Your heart sinks, because you were SO READY for this stage to be done so you could play with your baby in the real world!
That’s where I am right about now. I know that–simply because of the project load I’m looking at (and have been looking at)–it’s going to take just a wee bit longer. And I also know that this book is REALLY close to being done.
But experience has also shown me that the only way I’m going to finish it is to carve out half-day to full-day chunks of time in my schedule to do it. It’s just how I work best. And those schedule opportunities are seriously rare right about now. Aaarrrrgggh!
Here’s how I’m managing the strain of this delay:
- I’m reaching out to specific friends. There are times when the general encouragement and optimism of my friends won’t touch the self-imposed stress and strain that I’m feeling. When that’s the case, I turn to my friends who have direct experience in what I’m going through, and I ask them to talk me down from the “this-book-is-NEVER-going-to-get-done” ledge. The reality checks and sound advice these friends give me are pure gold. (The core of their advice? “Snap out of it!”)
- I’m keeping my expectations realistic. I’ve been on projects the last three days straight, which means that my body views today as a recovery day. I know, therefore, that I can’t expect to work on my book all day today and be gloriously productive the entire time. Rather, I’ll probably be able to do really good work on it for a three-hour block of time, and then I’ll need to actually allow myself to recover so I can be ready for the next project.
- I’m accepting the change. I could resist the change to my September 29th book delivery date all I want, but that’s not going to change the truth: this book is going to come out in October. Accepting this change actually takes a bit of the pressure off: instead of forcing the book to be done when I want it to be done, it’s going to be done when the book is ready to be done. My hope is that by accepting this change, my book will be the better for it.
- I’m not eating donuts…even though I desperately want to. Once I was diagnosed with a gluten allergy, it was easy to give up breads and cakes and other treats made from wheat: given the choice, I enjoy being able to breathe much more than eating a Twinkie or a donut. It’s been a no-brainer, and I haven’t missed it at all. Until now, where this stress is washing over me with crazy cravings for donuts and Twinkies (I know!) and other things that would be a very bad idea for me to eat. So far, I’m resisting the temptation. (Thank goodness!)
- I’m still getting massages. Because massages are a much healthier–and supportive–choice for me than donuts. And while it may be an hour out of my day today, I’ll be able to work much more effectively on my book afterwards than if I tried slogging through, trying to make progress with a tired body and a worn-out mind.
The illustrations need to get finalized (now that I can see them in the layout), and the copy needs one last proofing before we print my book’s galley. From there, it’s review review review time once again, making edits and corrections as appropriate. Shortly after that, we can pull the trigger and this baby can go live.
Perhaps…just perhaps, when that happens, I’ll eat a Twinkie!
I cannot wait to see what you draw forth,
