Be Prepared
Posted on 22 November 2007 by Sharon
You just never know what’s going to happen. One day, you’re merrily turning out a 1,000 word article on a topic you’re familiar with; the next, something happens to completely disrupt your routine. This could be:
- illness (yours or a family member’s)
- bereavement
- having relatives or friends in town
In all of these cases, your carefully planned writing routine can go completely out the window. However, there are a few things that you can do to make it easier to manage the unexpected.
If you run your own blog, or blog for someone else, always work a few posts in advance. Use the future posting option in Wordpress to schedule some posts that will go out even if you are called away unexpectedly.
When working for writing clients, always plan to have the job finished a couple of days before the actual deadline. This will give you some leeway if you suddenly need to take a day off.
In your writing career, give as much value to clients as you can, so they will cut you some slack when you need it. Dedication at the start of a client relationship buys a lot of goodwill at a later stage.
Make friends with some other writers whose work ethic you know and trust. Most writers will be glad to step in to help you meet a deadline if things get tough.
Those are my suggestions for getting prepared - what are yours? I’d love to do a follow up post with some of your top tips for keeping your writing career going when life intervenes.
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Tags | writing business, writing career
November 26th, 2007 at 3:07 am
In a perfect world, everything would get done when it needs to be. But this is far from a perfect world. Although I try my best to get everything in on time, I’ve definitely had a few times where I’ve needed to get an extension or ask for extra help form other writers.
Since I went above and beyond for my clients in the past, this wasn’t a big problem. Like you said, if you treat people right they are willing to cut you some slack if you need it.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Yes, Courtney, I’ve had to take advantage of that a couple of times. I balance that by delivering early where I can.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Great tips! A lot of newly venturing writers are experiencing these delays because of not anticipating. Saving up good articles for the future, while the words are still flowing like water, is really important for writers.
December 10th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Good idea, JC. I keep a stack of ideas on hand - and try to flesh out the structure when I think of them.