It’s terrific when you have multiple deadlines to keep track
of because that means obviously you’ve got multiple assignments… hopefully they
are PAYING assignments with big paydays.
No matter how the dollar figures seduce you, you should restrain
your acceptances to make sure you are being realistic and actually able to make
those deadlines. Sometimes life gets in the way — family emergencies, your own
(hopefully minor) illnesses keep you collapsed in bed, your internet goes down
and you can’t do research or send emails, or the stress gets you feeling like
an amnesiac.
And worst of all if you are like many other writers
(including me), you probably procrastinate until you know you can’t anymore.
Yes, boxed into a corner… yikes.
Unfortunately missing deadlines isn’t the smartest thing, a
ruined reputation won’t keep the assignments coming. Many editors, when you’ve
already established a solid working relationship, will understand the VERY
OCCASIONAL delay so long as you are professional and indeed it is a rare
occurrence. If the extreme happens, like you wind up hospitalized without your
computer, contact your editor as soon as possible to let him or her know you
probably won’t have the work done as promised. Never ever miss a deadline and
ignore it.
Here are a few tricks that have kept me out of hot water from
time to time: As soon as I am offered an assignment I pick up my
calendar/assignment book, check to make sure I have adequate time to do the
work and then write in all of the details including due date. I also enter the
due date and details into my online calendar which syncs to my cell phone and
pings me with email and text message reminders. (Voicemail and calendar
reminders are the next best thing to a CHEAP personal assistant!). Enter
follow-up dates on queries on your calendar as well.
As soon as possible after accepting an assignment I open a
file folder on my computer usually grouped by client and sub-folder by
assignment; I open a NOTE sheet and use down time to research subjects and
enter information including referencing URLs in preparation. Don’t rely on just
listing the URLs because if your internet does go down you basically lose all
of your research.
If you have to interview a subject for the project send an
introductory email first, introduce yourself with references to your previous
related work (online links if possible). Even if you will be doing the
interview by phone it never hurts to send a short list of questions or
discussion starters; if you can receive the responses via email it’s a win-win
as you don’t have to worry about misquotes, etc., but always inform the subject
if you will be using direct, attributable quotes. If you are going to conduct
the interview by phone or in person, set a specific time to “meet”.
Try to work on your assignments in the order that they are due
if you can, but don’t let it throw you if prep work takes more time — just go
to the next one in the queue. On the offside chance that you don’t have access
to the internet to send your article in, save a copy to removable media and
find the nearest library (or friend’s house) with internet connection; you can
also periodically save your work in progress by emailing it to yourself at an
email address you can access on the web.
Always make sure you know how to eject media without losing
data even if you can’t power your machine on just in case there is a power
failure. Be sure to cross or check the project off in your assignment book so
you don’t get confused down the road. And it never hurts to save pertinent
emails, including queries for assignments, to your work folder just for the
record. Remember to “document” everything.
Writing Exercise: Choose any topic of interest and
research it. Copy notes and referring URLs to a folder. Write a 350-500 word
article based solely on the research notes in your folder.
Writing Prompt:
Make a list of 10 “outrageous” and entertaining excuses why you missed
your deadline.
Challenge Assignment:
Set up a complete assignment recording and notification system. Use, at
your discretion: a project book, a homework assignment book, or an Excel
program to record assignments and contact info; create an online calendar which
will sync with devices and email or prompt with reminders; create a master
folder for each client and subfolders for each assignment. Work with this
system for up to a month and fine tune it as necessary… and then stick with it.
