Deadline and Contest anxiety

[Zorknot]

Edit: Paranoia has set in. I'm worried the reeds will reveal that King Midas has ass's ears. Or is it me who has the ass's ears?

[skald79]

1) BREATHE
2) It's submitted, move on.  Maybe it will do well, maybe it won't... don't stress as it won't change anything.
3) I sympathize with your procrastination problem.  I have one too.    If something is really important, remove the temptations.  So, if I really want to finish editing a chapter or something, the internet doesn't get connected. 
4) Give yourself a reasonable time frame to work in.  3 days would not be enough for me to hammer out a short story and edit and format it. I know I procrastinate and piddle around, but if i set small deadlines in between (like rough draft done by X and edits done by Y, etc) it keeps things trucking along.  I still may submit (writing or homework....same philosophy) at the eleventh hour, but usually I feel at least okay about what's going out there. 

Editors get a gazillion submissions.  They aren't going to remember yours and think "OMG HE SUCKS! Never take anything from HIM again."
On the flip side, if it does well, be happy and acknowledge that you always have room for improvement.

[HDBlalock]

What she said.

[Zorknot]

Heh thanks.

[Dev]

I've been told a lot of times that editors don't remember everyone who submits, even the ones who make mistakes, so you can't discount a market just because you've goofed with them before.

I've also heard a lot of stories about goofy things writers do when submitting. So they remember some stuff.

Conspiracy? YES I THINK SO TINFOIL HAT.

I want to tell you that you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs and we're writers so even if you messed up it's okay because rejection is part of the process, but who'm I kidding? I'm totally neurotic about this stuff and would stress just the same. ::air five::

On a genuine note, though, I think the stress might be worth it 'cause the crushing deadline got you to finish something, which is progress, right?

[Zorknot]

Absolutely. The stress gets me to finish something. Which is good. But when I'm stressed I don't do well, which is bad. I would very much like to figure out a way to finish something without getting stressed.

[ass's ears].

I'm not going to let it get to me. I'm going to pretend not to care and smoke an imaginary cigarette for a while while affecting a French accent.

[ass's ears]

(I'm a little tired. Sense I much am making not. Verdadamente. Soy un frijole misterioso en el cielo.)

[10thMuse]

Here's one way to look at it, it's been a really good learning experience and most importantly YOU SUBMITTED SOMETHING.  You have to give yourself major kudos for that, whether or not procrastination was your middle name.  You also have identified your problems in this area, and that's a first step.  Actually it's more like a giant leap.

And you didn't give up.  So even if for some reason that one minute makes them kick it back, you still didn't give up. 

Now that you know what you are doing that hinders you working in the manner you want to, you can take steps to work on it. 

As far as the word count not being right, well most people won't be annoyed by this.  Yes, some will - but from what I've been finding out, most would be happy the word count is less and not more.  Additionally, as far as the actual writing, I don't think it will kill your chances submitting to them again.  Even if it was horrific (and I can't see that from you) the next thing they see (if they even remember it from the hundreds of gazillions of submissions they plow through) they would probably be impressed you'd progressed.  Plus writers have to start somewhere.  Sure there are those who might hold it against you, but again I don't think it's really going to be the case.

I will admit that at times I have the same problems you've outlined.  I think many writers do. 

When I worked on the story for the dragon anthology, I actually rewrote it 4 times because I was trying to find my new and improved voice.  And I pick it up and see a hundred things I know I could do better.   I got down to the last night, plugging away, and between trying to fix everything and the internet going down, I missed the deadline by a couple minutes. So I freaked out (I'd been working for 14 hours straight to get it done) and then thought what the heck I worked hard and the answer is always no unless you ask.  So I sent a polite, short e-mail asking if I could still submit it because I'd actually thought the last day was at the end of the month and not the 28th.  The upshot was I was allowed to submit it.

So not giving up is a good thing.  I say congrats for sticking to it, even if you did wander a bit. 

Also thanks for posting this.  I think it's helpful to see what others go through so I don't feel so freakishly alone.

[Zorknot]

I'm glad I submitted it. I was just letting out some of my frustration. It's let out now and I feel better. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to overshare like this on the internet, but I had to decompress .

Thanks for the commiseration .