📆Why You Should Never Give Your Book a Release Date (Until It's Actually Ready)

 

Why I Had to Break Up With Deadlines to Save My Writing 💔🕰️

Let’s start with a confession:
I used to treat my writing calendar like it was sacred.

Deadlines? Etched in stone.
Pre-orders? Locked and loaded.
Release dates? Announced months in advance with the confidence of someone who definitely had everything under control.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t. 😅

And, naturally, it came back to bite me.

🚨 When Release Dates Become Creativity Killers

For my first few books, setting a release date was helpful. I was excited, motivated, and somehow managed to finish everything on time. It gave me structure, something to work toward. It felt like a win.

But here’s the thing: that initial burst of motivation can be deceiving.

What started as a healthy push quickly turned into a creative chokehold.

I found myself writing to a deadline instead of for the story.

That crucial question — “Is this story actually ready?” — faded into the background.

Deadlines became pressure cookers.
Chapters felt rushed.
Character arcs felt thin.
My writing began to feel like a factory line instead of an art form.

I ignored the signs at first, thinking, “I just need to push through.”

The Dangerous Dance of Quantity Over Quality 📉

So what did I do?

I promised a new short story every month.
Aiming for 120–150 pages per release.
No breaks. No breathing room.

Two books in, I was riding high on accomplishment.

But by book three? The wheels flew off.

The story collapsed while I was writing it.

I had no time to plot.
No time to develop.
No time to breathe.

I was writing to meet a date, not to tell a story worth paying for — or even worth reading for free.

Here’s a harsh truth that’s obvious in hindsight but often missed in the moment:

Quantity means nothing when quality isn’t there.

Readers won’t remember how fast your book came out.
They’ll remember how it made them feel.
Or worse, how it didn’t.

🧘🏾‍♀️ The Reset Button That Saved My Writing

After that disaster, I hit pause.

I cancelled my pre-orders (a tough but necessary move).
I took a three-week break.
I had a long conversation with myself.

And here’s what I realized:

  • I needed to slow down.

  • I needed to breathe between projects.

  • I needed to remember why I started writing in the first place.

Now, I give myself two to three months between releases.

I write.
I revise.
I reflect.

I give each book the attention and depth it deserves — whether it’s a novel, novella, or short story.

Some nights I hit 15–20 pages.
Others, I stare at the screen and write nothing at all.

And that’s okay.

Because the work I’m doing now?
It feels right.
It feels honest.
It feels done when I finally share it — not just “submitted on time.”

🛠️ Why “Deadlines” Are Still Useful (But Dangerous if Misused)

Let’s not throw the entire concept of deadlines out the window.

Deadlines can:

  • Keep you motivated

  • Help you stay productive

  • Give structure to your workflow

But they’re dangerous if used to:

  • Impress strangers on social media 👀

  • Force books into the world half-baked

  • Compete with faster authors

  • Prove something to people who aren’t paying attention anyway

Use deadlines as tools, not chains.

Write toward them, not because of them.

🧠 Everyone Writes at a Different Pace — And That’s the Point

Maybe you’re one of those writers who can crank out five full-length novels a year. ✍🏾🔥

If that’s you, hats off. Keep doing you.

But if you’re not? That’s perfectly fine.

You are not “behind.”
You are not “lesser.”
You are not failing because someone else writes faster.

You are writing your story at the pace it needs.

Writing a book a year — or one every two years — is not only valid, it might be your creative sweet spot.

There’s no gold medal for speed. Only satisfaction in the work and growth in your craft.

🌱 A Few Gentle Reminders for My Fellow Writers

Whether you’re on book one or book twenty-one, here are some takeaways from my own trial-by-deadline:

  1. Don't rush just because the calendar says “Go.”
    Ask yourself if the story is finished — not just typed up. A book can be complete in word count but hollow in meaning.

  2. Quality will always outperform quantity in the long run.
    A well-developed, emotionally resonant book that took time will stay with readers longer than six forgettable ones released on schedule.

  3. Give yourself creative breathing room.
    Watch a movie. Read something in a completely different genre. Take walks. Stare at your ceiling. Do whatever brings the spark back.

  4. It’s okay to not have a publishing calendar.
    Some of the best books ever written had no release schedule. They just had truth, emotion, effort, and heart. That’s what people remember.

  5. You can’t rush greatness—and you shouldn’t want to.
    Let your story become what it needs to become. Let it take as long as it needs.

💌 In Case You Need to Hear It One More Time

If you’re struggling under the pressure of your own release schedule, I hope this post gives you permission to stop and regroup.

You don’t owe anyone a date.
You don’t owe anyone a book before it’s done.

You owe yourself honesty — and your readers quality.

So slow down.
Take breaks.
Re-imagine.
Fall back in love with what you’re writing.

And when it’s ready?
It’ll be worth the wait.
For you and for them.

✍🏾 Final Thoughts

Deadlines are a double-edged sword. They can drive us forward or cut our wings.

Learn to wield them wisely.

Honor your creative process more than the calendar.

Write your story at your own pace.

Because in the end, a story well-told — however long it takes — is a story worth sharing.

Thanks for reading, for sticking around, and for caring enough about your craft to ask hard questions.

Now, go pour your soul into your story—on your own timeline. 💛

#Mindsindesign #Makitiathompson #Themiduniverse

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