Mind Over Manuscript
You’ve fed the cat.
You’ve brewed the coffee.
You’ve finally wrestled a few sacred minutes of silence out of your chaotic life.
You sit down to write and then... crickets.
Welcome to the club. The unfortunate truth is: the blank page doesn’t care how hard you’ve tried to make time. It only stares back. Mockingly. Like a smug little portal of doom where time stands still and you begin to question your entire existence.
But here’s the good news: you’re not alone. You’re just a writer.
And the even better news?
You’ve got your hands on Mind Over Manuscript — your new workbook-slash-creative-lifesaver designed to help you deal with the actual highs and lows of writing a book (yes, even the parts where you want to hurl your laptop into the sun). Don't do that!
Manuscript Workbook
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Inside we'll unpack:
- Why your brain goes blank when you finally have time
- How to actually work with your creative rhythms (instead of fighting them)
- And what to do when your inner critic decides to throw a tantrum
You’ll walk away feeling less like a creative fraud and more like a person who might—just maybe—write something brilliant today.
A deadline is the fastest way to fill a blank page.
About Us
Deadlines are the solution.
In a perfect world, no writer would ever get stuck, be stumped or get sucked into the black hole that is the internet. We would sit down, the muse would descend and we’d produce literary magic, but this world is far from perfect. We get stuck, stumped and sucked in by hyperlinks. We need deadlines.
Deadlines for Writers is the kindest, most productive writing community on the internet. We kick procrastination butt by meeting daily, weekly and monthly deadlines.
Deadlines for Writers
Deadlines for Writers is the home to several writing challenges. We host the 12 Short Stories in 12 Months, 12 Poems in 12 Months and 52 Scenes in 52 Weeks novel-writing challenge.
We write together, critique each other's work and constantly improve our craft.
12 Short Stories
Can you write 12 Short Stories in 12 Months?
12 Poems
Can you write 12 Poems in 12 Months?
Mia Botha
Founder
Mia has been a creative writing coach for more than 13 years. She created the Deadlines for Writers, which as the name implies, is a deadline-driven, online critique group that helps writers beat procrastination and perfectionism and overcome self-doubt because she has learnt that a deadline is the fastest way to fill a blank page.
©2025 Deadlines for Writers.