Deadlines

Procrastination is an obstacle that has challenged me all my life. After spending 2-1/2 years working with Leroy Cooper on his memoir, the time has finally arrived for me to complete the project. It should have been easy. I had the material. My plan was set. Cooper had told me all of his stories and I knew what needed to be done.

I was writing magazine articles every month and always completed them before my deadline (editors are always impressed by writers who come in early) but there were always excuses - not reasons, but excuses - to delay the project.

My mentor, a very successful author gave me a valuable piece of advice. "Set a deadline," he said. I was silent. "Set a deadline and then meet it." I promised him I would and within a few days I had done it. In the past three weeks I have completed more work than I thought was possible. I've stopped accepting assignments from magazines in order to meet this deadline and complete the memoir.

Now I have a plan. Meet deadline. Manuscript to editors. Work with publisher on cover art. Make changes. Turn it over to the publisher. Then the marketing campaign begins. But, as Oprah would say, "That's another show."