Some 24 issues ago I wrote about “Doin’ the Dreaded Deadline Dance”, a piece that you can still read here:

In it I talked about how a craftsman writer has to dance from one deadline to the next.

On reflection and re-reading that piece, I’ve come to believe that…

…it’s still 100% correct.

But I do think there’s a darker side to the deadline dance that is worth talking about here.

Which is that if you’re not darn careful you end up done dancing and…

Dying of Deadline Disease!

Because while it’s absolutely right that you should move from one deadline to the next, keep moving forward and learning and growing, writing fast and writing well…

…it’s also really easy to multiply unnecessary deadlines and distract yourself from what really matters.

Which is putting the main point upfront but I don’t feel any need to tease it out. In fact, let me make it even clearer:

Deadline dancing (good) becomes deadline disease (bad) when the deadlines start to detract from serious writing projects.

Allow me to mix my metaphor.

Deadlines are good if they’re like mile markers on a marathon. Push. Push. Push. Ten miles down, let’s go for fifteen. Push. Push. Push. I can make it to eighteen. Come on. Push.

Deadlines are bad when they get more like running on a treadmill. Push. Push. Push. Phew, one down. Next one. Go. Push. Push. Push. One down. Man I wish I had time to move forward but I’ve got to get this next one down first. Come on. Push…

In one, we’re using deadlines to motivate us to move forward. We’re making progress despite (and indeed because of) the deadlines.

In the other, meeting deadlines becomes the whole activity. There’s a lot of effort going in but there’s no progress forward.

No development as a writer. No increase in income. No creation of long-term leverage. No satisfying creative projects completed. We’re just going round and round on the

content creator carousel

(to mix my metaphor yet again).

The problem is that your focus shifts from making your art to meeting your deadlines.

Monday… gotta create content for the week.

Tuesday… gotta write emails.

Wednesday… gotta write my weekly newsletter.

Thursday… gotta write my client’s posts.

Friday… gotta write that report for work.

Saturday… gotta catch up on admin.

Sunday… gotta take the day to rest and worship.

Monday… how tf is it Monday again I got nothing meaningful done last week.

Look, it’s bad enough when you write full time and are juggling multiple projects, with another deadline always round the corner. But when you’re working a day job and also writing on the side it’s paralysing.

And if you get into that fix, you’ll never write good stuff even when you do have time because you’ll either be exhausted or stressed out your nut. That’s not conducive to creating great work.

Believe me, I’ve been there.

It sucks.

Even just two weeks ago I was spinning my wheels chasing deadlines and realising that I wasn’t actually making any progress because I was constantly switching from task to task trying to keep up.

Which is why I sat down over the last week and carefully worked through a systematic approach to curing deadline disease and getting back on track. Way too much to cover in a single issue of this newsletter.

Instead, I decided to create a workshop on it, talk through the whole process on video and break it down for you in an easily digestible and actionable format.

I sat down and planned it all out today.

The simple diagnostic you need to use… How one piece of paper can cure your deadline disease today… The ‘missing piece’ that you need before you make any changes… Answering what your “rabbit” is… McDonald’s, Liposuction, and what double chocolate cookies can tell us about deadline disease… My main writing goal right now… the categories to consider when dealing with deadlines…

…and probably more too.

It’s all in there in what will be around a 30-40 minute video training.

Full disclosure, I say video, but it’s just going to be me talking to the camera and occasionally showing my notepad, because I don’t believe in fancy slide decks and whatnot. Far better to have something that you can listen to on the go.

Fuller disclosure: There are no magic tricks or hacks in this training. It’s potentially life-changing but only if you put the work in, and it is work. It’s hard work. Dealing with deadline disease is no joke. It takes some hard thinking about what matters in your life, what you need to focus on, and where to spend your energies.

There is no magic wand in this video, just around 30-40 minutes of hard truths about what you need to do to fix it.

I say “around” because I spent all my time this last week making it as good as possible, and haven’t had time to write up the last section and record it all yet. Lord-willing and the crik don’t rise I’ll polish it up and record it by early next week.

But because this here is a Wednesday newsletter and today is Wednesday, I’m just gonna presell it and deliver it next week.

The retail price for the prerecorded workshop will be $99. Expensive for a simple video, yes. But a steal for what can be life-changing information, for those as apply it effectively.

That said… because I haven’t sat down and recorded it yet, I’ve decided to offer a ridiculously large discount for the launch. A genuinely painful one, as all good discounts should be.

So click the link below and buy before Sunday midnight UK time and the discount should be automatically applied.

If for some reason there’s no discount, the code is DDLAUNCHCODE. It will never be so cheap again.

That’s just a plain checkout, all the details are in this email. As usual I offer no guarantees or take-backsies.

Buy it or don’t, it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.

And as I don’t work Sundays, that deadline is programmed into the cart, the coupon will automatically disable at midnight UK time.

And I shall shut it down completely as soon as I record it early next week. This is likely going to be something that I only offer for sale occasionally to keep things interesting.

No exceptions to the deadline shall be made.

And whether or not you pick it up, I’ll see you next week. Either with the recorded workshop, or the next Write Way Newsletter.

Meanwhile, may your pipe be relaxed and you writing likewise,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin

But not quite fin for the fine folks in Craftsman’s Corner who keep the lights on around here.

For them, well, they know...