Like us on Facebook

 photo Final-About.png photo Final-MenuYA.png photo Final-MenuGoAway.png photo Final-MenuContact.png

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Procrastination

Yesterday I mentioned that the first step to writing my novel was to procrastinate. If you’re my mom (and, let’s be honest here, with the number of readers my blog gets so far you probably are) you’re probably shocked that I procrastinated.

I rarely procrastinate.

The Man finds this terribly annoying. He’ll wake up at 9 a.m. on the weekend, veg in front of the T.V. or computer for two hours while I sleep (I love sleep more than air I think). I’ll wake up, plop down on the couch, and start rattling off my to-do list.
“I need to wake up!” he’ll say.

“You’ve been awake for two hours.”

“Don’t you need two hours to wake up?” he’ll ask.

No. I don’t. Why put off for later what you can do now?

And yet when it came to writing that book I’ve always wanted to write, I procrastinated. Even when I knew I HAD to write it.

Partly this was out of fear. (Psych majors are all yelling a collective Duh.)

Part of it was perfectionism—not wanting to take the test before I had studied.

But most of it was fear.

Do I think my story’s stronger for it? Yes.

Do I think it’s the most productive way to build a writing career? Absolutely not.

Do I think I’ve used my allotment of statements starting with “Do I think” for the month? Most definitely.

8 comments:

  1. Hey, as someone who researched and brainstormed her book for about a year and a half before I actually wrote it, I can relate to the procrastination thing. But I finally got my butt in gear and wrote and rewrote and rewrote again, and eventually that draft landed me an agent. Who...made me rewrite a lot of it again--but that's beside the point. My point is, it's not a race. Whenever you dive in, it'll happen. Your journey is your own. :)

    Also--new follower! *waves* :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Shannon Whitney Messenger Thanks so much for commenting and the follow! See, now you're not only cool but super nice. I appreciate the supporting comment!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Tracey - popping on over from YALitChat. I love your funny, snarky writing style. As I fellow mom and night-writer, I feel your pain. It's easy to put off actually writing while learning the craft, but where's the fun in that? Now that I've finished 1.5 novels (I co-write 1, so I can only claim 1/2 the credit), learning is still important, but getting the words on paper has proven to really be the key. Of course, I'm not actually published yet, so...

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Jessie Thanks for the welcome, Jessie! Oh, and I think co-writing a novel totally earns you a full point. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. HI, Tracey. I saw your link on YALit Chat and hopped over. Nice to meet you and welcome to the wonderful writing blogosphere.
    I think a certain amount of procrastinatio is good--it's like marinating your ideas and getting more acquainted with it. I like to "procrastinate" an idea for 3-6 months before I outline it, then I buckle down and get writing. The procrastination period proves helpful to me to really understand where I wanted to go with the story. But be warned, you have to get it down at some point...or they simply drown in the ideas-that-never-had-a-chance whirlpool. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think most writers would benefit from a little bit of "study" before actual writing. If I had done that, I might have actually finished a book by now, or in the least, not have had so many drafts. :)

    But I'm like you, I procrastinate a little. But once I get the huge brainwaves, I type like a mad woman!! LOL! :)

    -Awel P.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Pk Hrezo I agree. I think getting suck in that ideas-that-never-had-a-chance whirlpool is close to being in a neverending research phase. Sometimes the brainstorming and researching and everything needs to end!

    Thanks so much for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Awel Prince Yes--I'm like a madwoman once I get going. But like you, not thinking ahead left me with unfinished drafts in the past. But I guess in the end it's not really important how many drafts it takes, just that it's in the best state it can be.

    ReplyDelete