: Re: How can I create my own deadline? I'm very responsible when I'm writing a tech book or article under contract. I have a deadline, my editor is expecting my work, and I turn it in on time.

@Cooney417

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I suffer from this all the time. My wife says I always write better to a deadline, but I struggle to figure out how to set deadlines and stick them. Some ideas I've been thinking about:

Get someone you know to set a deadline for you, and behave as if you're writing for them.
Find writing competitions on-line and write towards meeting that deadline. You may win something, you may not, but it will help condition you to write towards a deadline.
Write stories for people you know based on dates e.g. you want a story ready for Christmas, a gift for someone's birthday.
Write with the purpose of submitting to a magazine for a particular issue.
If you're prepared to spend the money, find some creative writing courses and do them, not with the objective of getting the qualification, but more because they are geared towards enforcing some discipline to meet deadlines for submitted work.

Of course, no-one except yourself can commit to a deadline, and enforce the discipline to meet that deadline (trust me, I know), but hopefully this could help!

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