I seem to be able to find all kinds of excuses lately why not to write. Some are genuine, like taking care of my family and fulfilling important obligations, but then there are those silly little things that seem to occupy my day and turn hours of what could be valuable writing time into wasted day dreaming. Yes, I think a certain amount of day dreaming is necessary, especially if I'm in the creative process of writing, but once I have the idea in my head, I should be filling the page.Part of my procrastination is laziness and I'm happy to admit that I recognize it and have tried to fix it, but dang if I don't just sit and twiddle my thumbs sometimes, doing absolutely nothing.
Something else that keeps me from writing is my fear of failure. There I said it. Or rather, wrote it. You may say to yourself that you are NOT afraid of failure, and that may be true, but something I've discovered lately is that I may actually be even more afraid of success. So, what's up with that? Are you afraid of success? Of putting yourself out there? The past few days I've seen friends go through a whole gamut of emotions as their books have been reviewed by their peers. I think if it were me, I'd be a nervous wreck, not knowing if my words would be well accepted or just merely tolerated so not to hurt my feelings. UGH!!
And then there's my internal editor. I can't seem to get one paragraph written without the guy (yes he's a guy) rearing his ugly head, wanting a piece of my work. I've managed to barricade him in the other room, but his voice is still screaming loud and clear. No way can I get everything in my head down on paper with him yapping away next door.
So, I'm curious. Do you procrastinate? If so, how do you turn things around so you can write. And if you're one of the rare who do NOT procrastinate, please tell me your secret.
Here's a cute video I thought I'd share with you. It made me laugh (while I was procrastinating writing this blog).
I loved this post! I think the best way for me to get out of my writing procrastination slump, was to start co-authoring again. My goodness, there's nothing else like being responsible for your half, when your co-author has just exploded on the page. Plus it makes writing fun all over again!
ReplyDeleteJenni
My best defense against procrastination is my daily writing time. I have to/get to write something every day.
ReplyDeleteTo banish the internal editor, I tried something new yesterday. I free-wrote 500 words before I let myself work on my new book. What came out was amazing. Even though it takes eight to ten minutes of my precious writing time, it really warmed up my engine. I think I'm going to make it a habit, like doing my scales and Hanon before I practice the piano.
YES!!! This is soooo where I am too! It's ok, cuz I've been here before. I just need to figure out how I got out of this procrastination cycle last time. So I guess I still don't know the answer but as long as I'm actively looking for it. I will find the solution eventually...right???
ReplyDeleteI'm suffering from something right now and I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's keeping me from writing. Fear of sucking might me part of it. I do need to stop making excuses and get writing though. I feel better about myself when I write.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really funny video. My worse enemy is Internal Editor because I'll put in the time to writing, but I'll tinker the words to death until I like them. Which takes a long time.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the video it sounds like me. I haven't figured out how to throw away my crown for being the queen of procrastination. Every time I try to put it in the trash it seems to be right back shining away on my head.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess I don't had advice for you. But I liked Rebecca's suggestion of free writing to rev the engines.
Just wait until you get a signed contract (and you will, I have no doubt). All that fear of success bubble to the surface except now, you can't hide from it.
ReplyDeleteIt's just like you said though, you just have to keep working, push through it.
That video is so cute! I love how we all procrastinate.