Fighting the Procrastination Monster...and winning

I am finding that the procrastination monster is looming again. But this time I am able to fight him off. I am thinking about cupboards, cleaning out the plastic cupboard, the laundry cupboard, the bathroom cupboard and even contemplated my chest of drawers. Thankfully I managed to catch myself before I got too carried away.

I even told myself that if I was that determined to reorganise and clean out the bathroom I could use it as a reward when I finish my editing. So despite little distractions pulling at me I have managed to sit at my desk (with my new lamp) and get some very productive work done.

The weather has been both a help in this and a hindrance. I find it difficult to keep motivated when it’s cold and raining day after day. My body also seems to need more sleep at this time so it has been a little difficult to get up of a morning. On the plus side I’m not able to get out into the garden so there is more time to be inside and writing.

At this point I am still confident that I can complete the edit by the set date. I’m also looking at this as good practice for deadlines set by publishers on re-edits. Fingers crossed that I get that far...

Happy Scribbling.

Holidays and the Procrastination Monster

I seem to be doing everything else but write today. The procrastination monster is in full swing. It is the last official day of my holidays and it’s raining, so we are having a pyjama day. The TV has been going all day, mostly cartoons and dvds. I even played hours of a match three computer game until I couldn’t focus on the screen any more. I have scanned the internet, checked the TV guide, checked facebook and other blogs I follow but I until now I haven’t written.

This has, in some form or other, been going on for a few days. So with the end of the day drawing closer and a day job only hours away I thought I should make an effort to get some words on paper and think about why I have found it so hard to do anything meaningful for some time.

Part of the problem is guilt. We are already at the end of April, that is one third of the way through the year and I haven’t achieved what I had hoped to by now. So here I am, feeling so bad that I haven’t written as much as I wanted to that I can’t write anything. I need to refocus on what I want to do, not what I haven’t done and start from there.  Part of my solution is trying to get back on track with this blog, a little writing is still writing.

I have been working on my first draft, a little, but not on my first manuscript which needs the editing. I think I am worried that I can’t make it as good as I want it to be. But then if I’m not even looking at it, I can’t fix it. I am all organised for heading back to work, and for the kids to school, which allows some free time first thing in the morning. My plan for this year was to start the day with some editing time. I work best first thing, and it is quite, alone time before the kids get up. An ideal time really.

For my first draft I also need a little more planning time. I am still enjoying the process, and new ideas are flowing, but the overall plot is still a little weak. I need to spend some time thinking about where it is going and what else might happen along the journey to help flesh it out a little.

I was recently asked if I plot out my stories in detail before I start. I don’t. They usually start with an idea, a scene forming, or a character in a particular situation or characters interacting and then as I write them down the story seems to develop from there. As the characters grow and the story starts to take shape then I start to do some planning around where the story will go and how. It doesn’t always go to plan, but it gives some guidance to the process.

I had mentioned recently that I was trying to write a dream I had. It was rather vivid and the setting was clear as I wrote it down. But even though I have only written a few pages I am already wondering where the characters came from, how they to that dusty, run down cottage. What they will do there, whether they will stay. The range of characters staying there with them and why they are there.

I can already see something significant forming from just those first few pages. But the more time I spend thinking about it the less time I have to work on the other projects I have going. I have this fear of working on so many little projects or starting large ones, that none of them will actually end up finished.

I think I will allow myself some guilt free time playing with some story ideas, knowing that I am going to get stuck into editing tomorrow. Or at least I plan to. After all I want to be a writer. And to be a writer, I need to write.

Now that my fingers are warmed up and typing away I think I’ll scribble just a bit...

Happy  Scribbling

Goal Update

My goal setting went really well, and I have been trying to keep up with them as well as I can. One thing I have learnt is not to beat myself up when I can’t get what I want done. The past week has been another example of that.

My internet was down for most of the week, which made it difficult to post blogs. Although that doesn’t stop me writing for when it is back on line. Very busy days at work where I longed for a quiet moment but couldn’t get one. Now I have a peaceful day at home, alone, I could get so much done, I am finding the quiet distracting. Arrgh.

OK, I can actually work around all of these things, and easily. No internet is no excuse, actually it means less distraction. When it is back up and running I already have the posts ready to go.

When I first started writing I used to sit in corner of our old but comfy sofa with a pen and paper and scribble for hours, the telly always on. I have said before that I can find the telly a bit of a distraction, but if I put on a movie I know well, enjoy and have watched about a hundred times then it helps block out the deafening roar of the silence and I can write quite happily for hours. It was only recently that I read of a very well known authoress who did the same, but with musicals. I think that would tip me over the edge but if it helps, then use it.

My day job focuses on very different things, when I need to focus there I tune out the world by plugging in music, depends on the day and the task as to what I listen to but it does work. I know other writers that have a writing soundtrack to help with creativity and focus.

I am also more aware of my procrastination and what I use to procrastinate. I really want to write. I want to be able to tell people I am a writer. To be able to do that I have to write. So, a day at home, I don’t make eye contact with the bath and it’s ok that there are dishes piled up beside the sink. They are only little things. The house is clean and generally tidy (if you don’t mind stepping over Barbie, and all her friends, or the shoes and school bags that you could swear you asked her to put away yesterday). It is not essential that the bath be cleaned right now, or the kitchen floor be scrubbed.

Back to the Butt-in-Chair theory, Pride and Prejudice on the telly and write, write, write. I am actually excited about what I can achieve today.

Happy Scribbling.