How to Procrastinate- From an Expert

We all do it. We procrastinate about doing things that maybe we don't want to, but have to do. Things that are complicated and will take over our lives. Things that may be unpleasant. Things that maybe aren't that bad, but well, we just don't feel like doing at the moment.

Sometimes writing and revising are like that. Have to do it, need to do it, don't want to do it. Writers come up with great ways to procrastinate. Here are some of my better ones...

1. My desk is a mess! How can I work with it like that??? Which of course, once you start cleaning, there are papers to go through, dusting, reading scraps of paper with ideas for books that you want to keep because you intend to turn those notes into novels. There's that darn file, drawer, closet, etc. that now need to be cleaned... It's a deadly avalanche of distractions.
2. I need to go shopping because I have to have more... pens, paper, notebooks, cheesy fries, toothpaste, etc. Doesn't matter what it is, you MUST have it.
3. The kitchen I've been meaning to paint all summer... I HAVE to do it NOW because  Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming and I'm having guests, and with three boys, the walls are a bit scruffy looking, and smoke has darkened the color. 
4. I'm not wasting time on the internet, I'm researching for the next novel or two.... 
5. I can get the revisions done in almost no time, and I'm under no deadline. I have plenty of time. 

I'm sure you have your favorites, your good old standbyes. If you're procrastinating, maybe there's an underlying reason. Struggling with this manuscript, I've already gone through it, page by page, editing it on paper because it couldn't be done on my laptop because the revisions included moving chapters around, adding, subtracting, and reworking the entire story. (I wrote it before cell phones were commonplace.) All I have to do now is type in the changes. But as I look at all the edits, add-ins, cross outs, I'm afraid because it's such a mess.

What's weird is that I'm two thirds through; why can't I just buckle down and DO IT? I still love the story, and I love the freshness from the changes. Maybe I'm just tired of working on it.

But I need to get it done.

So, I will make yet another promise to finish it this week. (Yep, broke a few of those promises.) I hope to make it this time, but if I don't, I won't beat myself up. It will get done. And the sooner I get it done, I can start on that new #NaNo project (which I'm doing in January, I'm part of that rebel group I wrote about several posts ago). Finishing it means freedom to move on, to start that new book, to stop being critical of myself, and to send it to my agent.

Check back on Monday and I'll let you know how I did. Today's not over, so I still have time to get some pages done...

Char

Revising NaNoWriMo

November is #NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. You take 30 days and write 1,667 words a day to complete a rough draft novel of 50,000. I usually do it every year.

This year, I'm revising NaNoWriMo and here's why. On Saturday I attended the Albany Book Festival at SUNY Albany. Chatting with my tablemate, Johanna Spero (*waves) I found out there is an underground movement in NaNoWriMo: doing it in January.

Seriously, whoever conceived of doing 1,667 words a day in NOVEMBER, when we have the prep of Thanksgiving and teachers' conferences, and the prep for Christmas, obviously wasn't a person with schoolkids, or families who descend on them for an all-out holiday meal. It's just too insane. When Johanna told me about a renegade group who does NaNoWriMo is JANUARY, I was like, wait, what? AFTER the holiday rush? During the crappy winter when all you want to do is stay inside? When there are no holidays? When the college kids have returned to school and soccer/football is over? It's freaking GENIUS. I salute these brilliant people and am joining your ranks. Every year I burn the all-night oil to get at least several days ahead because who can write on Thanksgiving Day when you're cooking, and stuffed, and visiting? The day before- it's all prep. The day after, it's cleanup. Then starts the Christmas madness. It was insane, draining, and I came to dread trying to catch up before the 30th deadline. So many people gave up because they felt like failures. It was a Herculean task, at best.

Photo courtesy of Energepic, Pexels. 

No more! I am free! January is perfect. And while we're here, let's talk about #NaNoRevMo, or National Novel Revision Month. Again, who is this crazy person that thought revising your rough draft in JUNE was a great idea?? Oh, sure, the kids aren't in school, they are HOME, or you have to take them to camps. There are weddings, graduations, First Communions, etc. If you write your novel in January, the best time to revise it would be September. Kids are back in school, and yes, you have the sports to deal with, but it's easier to revise a few pages sitting in the car while the kids practice than it is to write.

So RISE UP! Revolt against the oppression of trying to write a novel in November! Free yourself! No disrespect to those who do it in November, I did it for a number of years, but this year, I take control of my own NaNoWriMo.

Join the Rebellion! 

Photo courtesy Pixabay, Pexels.

As long as you keep writing-

Char

To Mountain Tops and Paths Not Chosen...

I have climbed the mountain. And won.

I finished my middle grade novel, a sequel to a previous NaNoWriMo project. 50,066 words. In late afternoon on the 30th of November. Was it a smooth ride? Heck no. But here's what I took away:

1- I digressed from my outline. The characters refused to comply with my wishes and led me down a different path. Obviously they knew the story better than I did, so I followed their lead. Good thing!

2- Even though we ventured on the path not (originally) chosen, we finished up in the same place. The ending was almost exactly like my outline, just a little more twisty.

3- It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, even with holidays, family and church obligations, author events and traveling, and plain housework. Someone told me, "You could do NaNo every month." If I'm inspired by a book, I probably could. Not that I'd want to. I'm taking December a little easier.

4- It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I'd planned on doubling up on the word count for several days so I could spend days prepping for Thanksgiving, enjoying Thanksgiving, and for days on the road at events. Somehow I ended up busting my butt on several days to catch up. After the first week, I was always behind. Nothing like a little motivation.

5- I'll continue to do NaNoWriMo. I may not finish (I actually didn't one year!), but I find it a good exercise in writing madly. When I get a deadline, I know how to handle the pressure, how to prioritize, and how to push forward through seemingly unpassable obstacles.

Now it's December and while I'm not writing as much, I'm still doing blog posts, marketing, and querying. I won't start revisions on this project until January, when I'm snowed in, the house is quiet and bare of decorations, and I can focus on all the ugly that lurks in the manuscript.

If you didn't finish by November 30th, that doesn't mean you can't finish it by the end of the year, so keep plugging along and we'll talk about revisions in January.

Char