DEADLINES AND WORDCOUNTS

Don't Think Just Write

Getting Things Done...

There is nothing like a deadline or a target wordcount to send me whirling into action and get things done. Planning, as some of you know, has taken a long time arriving at my desk. I've always thrown my hands in the air and balked at the thought of having to plan! Not in my nature. But actually it is and always has been and I'm not sure where I convinced my self that it was not a good thing to do. Having set myself the target of entering and if truth be know, exceeding the NaNoWrimo challenge, then I find myself with the energy to complete dusty projects that have been sitting on the back burner. Were they in my plan? Well of course they were, but you can always ignore the plan... I know, I know I should be shot.

So I've drafted a proposal for a non-fiction book and researched the market and will be looking for publishers later this week. It's something I've been mulling over for ages and it has been fuelled a little by some of the hits I get through writing articles on Suite 101. My personal development and people management pieces are very popular (shortly followed by the ones I write on 'writing' I might add). And I've always had a beef about the basics of people management, everyone gets so engrossed in the latest management fad or fashion they forget about the ordinary people who have to carry them out. So that's another project on my list for this week. What about you?

Apologies for those expecting a book review - I've just finished reading a Robert Goddard, set near where I used to live in Wiltshire and with an historical slant. Apparently all of his have some kind of historic link and I really enjoyed the read. It was sharp, had live characters, even those who were dead had some personality - and it ticked all the boxes. Just can't remember what it is called. Normal service will resume, or maybe not...