Kathryn A. Frazier
Your Story. Your voice. the best it can be.
This post is for procrastinating writers.
Manahoana, Writer Peeps!
It’s been a week since I officially set aside copy writing and copy editing to focus on writing the words of my heart. My writing time seems more precious as my eyes grow out-of-focus and dimmer each day. My goal is to write my stories on days that I can see, for as long as I can see. It’s non-specific, but it’s still a goal, and I’m going for it.
We don’t say it, but we all kind of believe we’ll live forever, healthy, free, and with a sound mind, don’t we? So, with all the time in the world, we wait. Wait until the Muse plays nice. Until we get the perfect software. Until life gets easier.
Check out The Procrastination Rut by Flylady (Marla Cilley)
for inspiration on cutting procrastination and living the life you were meant to live.
I’m not used to budgeting my writing time if someone’s not paying me to do it, so I procrastinated came up with a couple of rules to stay on track. If you have any tips that work for you, please share. We’re all in this together.
- Research first. Some writers get their stories out on the page, then fill in details with research later. As a procrastinator, I know I’ll be trying to bang out quality work as the deadline looms, so I put research first. I’ll check out stacks of library books, sit on my bed, and flip through each book. Index cards scribbled with questions or ideas go into the relevant passages. Because I procrastinate, more often than not, I slack on the task at hand and get lost in reading those passages. And I’ll read them whenever I get the urge to read for fun (often).With no conscious effort, my brain arranges and rearranges the information and considers various angles, essentially creating an outline while I hang out. By the time I have to start typing, the work is practically already written. Our brains can only work on information if we give it to them. So whenever you get the urge to procrastinate writing, just lean into it, and do your research right away.
- Create accountability. As a procrastinator, I’m not good with self-imposed deadlines. When I work for clients, I can make their deadlines. With self-imposed deadlines, though, both the consequences of procrastination and the rewards for diligence are delayed and uncertain. It’s too easy to slack off.
- Original drawing from 1831 edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
What’s missing is accountability. This is where a writing group comes in handy. You can encourage one another to keep self-imposed deadlines. If you don’t have a group, pick a friend or family member that you can trust to ask about your progress, hassle you when you fall behind, and reward you with a mini-celebration only when you reach a mini-deadline, and a big celebration only when you reach a big deadline. Your accountability partner doesn’t have to be a writer, but they do have to be tough. This is one of those ‘whatever-I-say-do-not-let-me-out-of-the-room-with-the-monster’ situations.
Imagine how much richer our writing would be if we let research mull around in our brains and didn’t have to cram it all in at the last minute. Imagine how much more we could accomplish if we stopped procrastinating and moved forward.
The world needs your story. Get to it.
Hugs,
Kathy
P.S. This song is very encouraging for us procrastinators. Lyrics in video or here.
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Kathryn A. Frazier 