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Home » Archives for Bob Hostetler » Page 23

Bob Hostetler

Deadlines Are Friends, Not Nemeses

By Bob Hostetleron November 1, 2017
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When is your next deadline? What? You don’t have one? Why not? Aren’t you a writer?

I know some writers create fine prose or poetry without deadlines—I just don’t know how they do it.

“But,” you may protest, “I don’t have a contract yet. How can I have a deadline?”

I suggest you always have a deadline, whether a publisher imposes it or not. No one is preventing you from making—and meeting—your own deadlines.

Many years ago, after years of high-intensity pastoral ministry (is there any other kind?), I found myself in a desk job as a magazine editor. Having been a pastor, I was accustomed to juggling multiple deadlines, so that was nothing new, but this was also the first time in my adult life when my job wasn’t 24/7, so to speak. So, I thought this would be a fine time to try to fulfill my dream of writing a book.

It wouldn’t have been kosher to work on my book project during office hours, so I decided to work on it for a couple hours each workday evening after my two school-age children were in bed. I planned for the book to be fourteen chapters long, so I broke the work into fourteen weekly deadlines. I promised myself (and told my wife) that if each week’s chapter wasn’t written by bedtime Saturday evening, I would not go to bed until it was done. I don’t think I pulled any “all-nighters,” but I did work well into the night several times to meet that week’s deadline (and, since I wasn’t a pastor at the time, I calculated that I could catch up on sleep a little during the sermon the next morning—hey, don’t pretend you’ve never done it!).  But after fourteen weeks of typing each chapter on a manual typewriter (those were the days) and then scanning the pages into a prehistoric word processing program each Monday morning at the office, I had a completed first draft.

I realize that not everyone is as obsessive-compulsive as I am. But I still think deadlines are your friends, not your nemeses. A deadline can help you to focus and sort out what is most important to you. A self-made deadline can help you to practice for the day when you must fulfill a contractual. A deadline can keep your eyes on the prize, measure your progress, and impart a sense of accomplishment when you reach your finish line. A deadline can shape your future and breathe life into your dreams.

So, don’t wait to be assigned an article or offered a book contract to start working toward a deadline. Setting your own deadlines may actually help to bring such things to pass.

 

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Category: Book Business, Contracts, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Contracts, Deadlines

Your First Writing Assignment

By Bob Hostetleron October 25, 2017
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If your writing doesn’t start with this practice, you’re cheating yourself. Lauren Winner, author of the wonderful memoirs, Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath,  tells about an experience she had when a writing student of hers showed her part of a memoir that was astounding, far better than this student’s usual writing. Winner asked the student what had transformed her writing over the course of …

Read moreYour First Writing Assignment
Category: Career, Faith, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Faith, Prayer, The Writing Life

Be Published? or Be Read?

By Bob Hostetleron October 18, 2017
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Is your goal “being published” or “being read?” What pieces of writing and publishing advice do professional agents and editors wish would go away…forever? I asked that question of some of my friends in the industry (yes, I have friends, and most are much smarter than me). The last two weeks I have posted (here and here) some of their responses. But I’ve saved one more for last. One savvy, …

Read moreBe Published? or Be Read?
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, Career, Marketing, Platform, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Book Sales, Get Published, Marketing

Writing Advice We Wish Would Go Away

By Bob Hostetleron October 11, 2017
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I mentioned in last week’s blog that I asked some of my writing and publishing friends to tell me what one “writing rule” they’d like to see go away…forever. Many cited the timeworn, “Write what you know” (see here). Others, however, gave different but similarly helpful answers. Author, speaker, and writers conference director Lin Johnson said, “I heard this often in my early freelance days and …

Read moreWriting Advice We Wish Would Go Away
Category: The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: The Writing Life, Writing rules

Don’t Write What You Know

By Bob Hostetleron October 4, 2017
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I asked some of my writing and publishing friends to tell me what one “writing rule” they’d like to see go away…forever. Many of them gave the same answer. Emphatically. Author, blogger, and writers’ conference director Edie Melson said, “We need to quit killing creativity with the time-worn advice, ‘Write what you know.’ Instead, go write what you’re passionate about.” New York Times and …

Read moreDon’t Write What You Know
Category: The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: The Writing Life, Writing Craft

You Gotta Know the Territory

By Bob Hostetleron September 27, 2017
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So you’re writing a book. In what genre? Don’t know? You must. My colleague, Dan Balow, recently wrote a valuable blog post (here) that touched on the many genre categories and sub-categories in today’s publishing world. You should read it—when you finish reading this, of course. “I don’t care about genre,” you may say. “I’m a writer, not an editor or publisher.” To which I say, “Tough.” If you’re …

Read moreYou Gotta Know the Territory
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Genre

Fail Better

By Bob Hostetleron September 20, 2017
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Writing is hard. Writing for publication is even harder. And writing to be read and re-read is a Sisyphean task (go ahead, look it up; I’ll wait). So it is no wonder that Samuel Beckett’s line from his novel, Worstward Ho, has been adopted not only by athletes (they are tattooed on Stanislas Wawrinka’s arm) and billionaires (Richard Branson cited the quote in an article about his airline’s future) …

Read moreFail Better
Category: Inspiration, The Writing LifeTag: Failure, Inspiration, The Writing Life

Dress for the Job You Want, Not the Job You Have

By Bob Hostetleron September 13, 2017
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You’ve heard the standard career advice, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have,” right? It’s not just about workplace wardrobe. It means, basically, don’t wait until you’re hired to start acting the part—because you may have to act the part in order to get the job in the first place. It means, if you work in the mail room, instead of pouting and grumbling, stand up straight when you’re …

Read moreDress for the Job You Want, Not the Job You Have
Category: Branding, Get Published, MarketingTag: Branding, Get Published, Professionalism

Why I Use That Dirty Word … PLATFORM

By Bob Hostetleron September 6, 2017
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It’s a dirty word to aspiring writers. It is even unpopular among many agents and editors. It elicits snarls and sneers from people who just want to write great stuff and get their writing published. I’m talking, of course, about the word “Platform.” It refers to the extent of a writer’s influence. It answers the questions, “How big is your audience? How many people are already reading what you …

Read moreWhy I Use That Dirty Word … PLATFORM
Category: Marketing, PlatformTag: Marketing, Platform

A Writer’s Top 6 Productivity Practices

By Bob Hostetleron August 30, 2017
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I’ve met fifty book deadlines, never missing one (though I have renegotiated a few), and many more article deadlines. These days, as a writer, editor, and agent, I have even more tasks, schedules, and details to juggle than ever before. Happily, I’ve installed a handful of productivity practices that aid my feeble mind and fragile memory. Here are six that I find the most helpful: Working ahead …

Read moreA Writer’s Top 6 Productivity Practices
Category: Technology, The Writing LifeTag: Productivity, Technology, The Writing Life
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