There is only one real way to guarantee success as a writer.

The problem is…

It’s so mind numbingly boring that you won’t believe me when I tell you.

But I know it works.

It’s worked for me, for the writers I’ve helped personally, and for the writers I’ve hired in the past.

To guarantee your success in writing, all you have to do is learn to set and stick to deadlines.

That’s it.

I wish there were more. I really do.

If there was a more complex, over-the-top, sexy pathway to writing success…

Maybe then you’d believe me.

But there isn’t.

All you have to do is learn to set and keep deadlines.

Do that long enough, and with time, you’ll reach every writing milestone you could imagine.

When you set deadlines…

… you finish work.

When you finish work…

… you learn things.

When you learn things…

… you get better.

When you get better…

… you get more readers.

When you get more readers…

… they want more stuff from you.

So you set more deadlines.

And the cycle continues.

Over and over again. Ever onward.

“But Mike, that sounds too easy. I thought writing was supposed to be hard.”

Simple? Yes.

Easy? No.

Here’s what I want you to do right now:

Regardless of what your current writing schedule is, set a deadline to finish a 5,000 word short story by the end of this month.

It has to be in the genre you want to write in.

It can be longer than 5k words, but it can’t be shorter.

It can be a series tie in, a stand-a-lone, whatever.

It has to be completely edited, completely polished. The best work you’ve ever written.

And it’s due by May 1st.

You have 6 days to do it.

And when you’re finished, send it to me.

I’ll give you a free critique of your story.

But what’s more valuable is that you’ll have set and kept a deadline.

And that’s a skill you can take all the way to the bank.

Do it, or don’t. Doesn’t matter to me.

But it might just change your writing life for the better.

Mike “Deadline Dreaming” Shreeve

P.S. If you send an unedited story, I won’t read and critique it.

If it doesn’t hook me within the first 2 sentences, I won’t read and critique it.

If it’s a novella or novel, I won’t read and critique it.

If it’s ghostwritten stuff, I won’t read and critique it.

It has to be a brand new, fresh short story.

It has to be your best stuff.

Your most emotional writing.

Do that and I’ll help you move even further forward.

Or don’t.

It’s up to you.