Parkinson's Law and Publishing

I was listening to Planet Money on NPR last night as I was heading to the airport. They were reporting on all of these "Laws" and "Principles" that we often hear around the business world. One in particular stood out to me. This was Parkinson's Law.

The basic definition is: Parkinson's law is the adage that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".

So, how does this work with publishing and writing?

For new and unpublished authors, this is the reason why you are taking forever to get that novel written. Because you have no deadline, or you have set a deadline so far away, you will naturally take that long to complete the project. No deadline means you have literally told your brain there is no hurry at all.

Now, for published authors, this explains why some of you produce stories so quickly, and others take for ever.

I was thinking about my Greyhaus authors and some authors I know outside of the agency. My authors who really produce create deadlines with their editors that are literally back to back. They calculate down to the day exactly how long it will take to write a novel. For these authors, they really use that time wisely.

Now there are those other authors who, for whatever reason have said they would need "more time to complete a project." The reality is that probably could write that story in a shorter time, but have created a "supposed need" to expand that time to complete the project. The end result is that they do meet that deadline, but have slowed their production.

I know of several authors who used to produce 4 books a year. Now, they are lucky to produce 2. What is also amazing is how they often complain that they are struggling to meet that deadline.

We see the same thing when authors pitch to editors and agents and then hear the response, "Send it to me when you are done." The lack of a real deadline means that the author will likely take too long to get a project to that person, or worse yet, never get the project sent at all. This is why, when I request a project, I tell authors that project really should be in my hands within 2 weeks max. 

If you artificially create a longer deadline then you need, the odds are, the next time around you will say you "felt rushed" and then extend that deadline again.

There is nothing wrong with setting a deadline a bit longer if you truly need it. But keeping it a tighter deadline will certainly help you out.