Deadlines

By Kathryn Lane

I love deadlines! They revitalize me. Twists and turns in my mystery novels become more exciting once I’m approaching the deadline with my editor.

Not all deadlines are equal. Some are important; others can be juggled. Then there are deadlines I gleefully ignore.

At times, I fantasize what would happen if I missed such and such important deadline. That activity takes the form of various possible outcomes, as if I lived in a quantum world where there’s an infinite number of possibilities.

Meeting a deadline!

And it reminds me of a wonderful European film from 1998 titled, Run, Lola, Run. An experimental film at the time, the lead character, Lola, needs to acquire $100,000 deutschmarks in TWENTY minutes or her boyfriend will die. The film gives three versions of what happens. Each version is predicated on the lapse of a few seconds where random, unexpected events happen that impact Lola’s ability to obtain the money. These random events change each one of the three endings.

In the past month, I’ve had the opportunity to think about random, unexpected things that happen. Some are good, some not so good.

On the return trip from the Killer Nashville International Mystery Writers’ Conference (which was wonderful) in late August, we experienced an unexpected event.

Driving through Georgia, a speeding motorist hit us a few miles south of Atlanta. Fortunately, everyone, including the motorist who hit us, walked away with only minor bruises. A different story for the vehicles – both were totaled.

Random events, good or bad, set off unexpected consequences, which ripple through already planned events, like getting a manuscript finished for your editor.

Meeting manuscript deadlines!

As in the three outcomes in Run, Lola, Run, my mind considered various scenarios: If only we had not stopped for gas when we did, if only we had started our journey a few minutes earlier (or later) that day, if only we had been in a different lane. But we don’t live in a quantum world. Nor do we live in a world where we can restart the day and get a different outcome.

Small, unplanned events can add spice to life. Large ones, like car accidents, can create havoc on deadlines. C’est la vie.

Deadlines are important to my characters too. It’s like they’re telling me “If you write it this way, it will be better”. Or they will kick my butt, saying “Go this other direction and get our story told”.

Maybe that’s a little like the different outcomes in Run, Lola, Run. In novels, only the author knows the various endings that could have taken place.

How do you handle deadlines?  

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Kathryn’s mysteries – The Nikki Garcia Mystery series:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B08C7V2675/ref=dp_st_1942428944

 

Kathryn’s short story collection – Backyard Volcano and Other Mysteries of the Heart

https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Volcano-Other-Mysteries-Heart/dp/1943306044

 All available on Amazon

 Kathryn Lane started out as a starving artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation. After two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels in over ninety countries.

https://www.kathryn-lane.com