I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
Douglas Adams
It’s interesting being an ISFP personality type. If you don’t know, ISFP are the initials of the fourth most common Myers-Briggs personality type.
I – Introverted
S – Sensing
F – Feeling
P – Perceiving
Another word for us? The Composer. You can learn more about this personality type here.
While I don’t like to be shoved into a box (who does?), and my personality results are almost always split 50/50 with INFP (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving – The Healer), the faults are uncannily similar to my own. Two of them is that we tend to be easily bored and don’t plan for the future well. Like me? DING-DING-DING! We have a winner.
I’m a (mostly) when it comes to writing. For the non-writer: pantsers are the type of writer who don’t work with an outline written out ahead of time before they sit down to pen a book or story. But one thing I am learning from my 10+ years at this craft is that in order to turn it into a career, you have to do some planning.
Enter deadlines.
If you don’t have something to aim for, you aim to fail. I don’t remember who said that, and I’m too lazy to look it up right now. Maybe that’s the ISFP in me, or maybe it’s something else. Anyway, I have a deadline set for October 15th to finish draft one of book three of The Goblets Immortal series. Book two comes out in February of 2021, and I have to have my final draft to my publisher in January of 2021. If I don’t plan, I’m in BIG trouble.
From where I’m sitting right now, that’s writing a mere 383 words per day (if the plot wraps up in 23,000 words.) And there’s not just the writing and editing, there’s promotional stuff to do. If I don’t parse out my time correctly, October 15th will arrive and I’ll be empty-handed. January 2021 will arrive, and I’ll be really disappointed in myself. And February 2021 will arrive with no fanfare, just crickets.
I’m still hate deadlines, and I’m still not good at planning for the future, but I’m trying. Hopefully, it’ll pay off. I’ll keep you all posted.
Keep your nose in a book,
Beth
Beth Overmyer 