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

Just a Quickie....

I'm in the midst of #NaNoWriMo2018 and happy to say I'm not only on track, but 4 days ahead. This allows me a stress-free Thanksgiving and a weekend visit with my sister. Here are 5 things I've learned this year during the craziness of NaNoWriMo:

1. I work faster and better if I shut myself in my office, working at a proper desk. There are too many distractions if I'm sitting on the couch (too near to the TV and people coming in & out, the fridge, etc. For me, isolation is key to productivity!
2. When I work on a comfy couch, being so tall, I have to dip my head to see the laptop. This has given me neck and back problems. Who needs that? So, another reason to use my beautiful office.
3. Stretch! I work about an hour, then get up and get a cup of tea, throw in a load of wash, etc. Sitting too long leads to stiff joints. 
4. Getting up is good for the circulation, but I don't want to lose my train of thought. make a few notes at the bottom of the page saying where I was going. As I do a chore, make that tea, I keep thinking about the next chapter/block of writing. By the time I get back to my seat, I'm fairly burning to get the words on paper. Bonus: if you can, incorporate your notes into the chapter/block rather than erase and you've added a bunch of words!
5. I had to break from writing because I needed a fact. Going onto the internet to find out what I need for this particular section of the manuscript can lead to getting lost down that rabbit hole. Key: set a timer so that you spend no more than 5-10 minutes searching. You just need that one fact, not pages of notes. If you need more detailed info, try to write around it, like a scene that comes later in the book, and research after you've hit your word count. I like to surf at night, on commercials while I relax in front of the TV. 

Now it's time to get in another 1,677 words so I stay ahead of the daily goals. 

Don't forget to update your word count!

Char

Ye Olde Manuscript

I'm working on a new book. (So what else is new?)

But this time, I'm doing it olde school.

I'm handwriting the entire book.

Why??? you scream? When a laptop is quicker, has instant SpellCheck, you can look up anything you need, and I'm only going to have to type the whole thing anyway?????

Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but hear (read) me out. First and foremost, I want to be thoughtful when I write this book. As my pencil (yep, really old school!) glides across the page in cursive script (and my script is really curlicue curly), I weigh each word. The process slows down to where I think about a word and consider if another would fit better. If so, I erase the inferior word and use the better one. On a laptop, I would be tapping furiously and just keep going, figuring I'd change the word when I started revising. But handwriting (which is becoming a lost skill and art), makes me order my thoughts, it forces me to almost read it aloud in my head. On a laptop, writing is as fast as my fingers can type, and sometimes that's faster than my brain thinks. There will still be many revisions required; I noticed when I picked up the project one day that I'd used the same word in two consecutive sentences. There are empty spaces where information about the time period or the setting needs to be inserted. Laptops make it too easy to become distracted on the www. For now, it's about the writing. Later it will be about correcting/adding information.

Second, I like to write poolside.

Okay, this is actually in the pool and I'm not actually writing, but you get the drift. Laptops + water + a pool bar = disaster. If my pages may get a little soggy from a splash, I leave them in the sun and they're good to go. (Another reason not to use pen, it will smear or dissolve.)

Third, I can write at the beach without fear of surf, sand, or sun blowing up my laptop, or it getting stolen. I can write in the car (until I get carsick) without worrying I'll run out of power. I can write anywhere.

Another reason to write this out longhand is it's giving me the feels, the tone of the manuscript. It's a story about an immortal being and currently, he's in the early 1900's, but he's been around since the late 1700's, and this is how they wrote manuscripts back then. The longer process helps me to think about language appropriate for the times and places; rougher, less elegant speech of a common farmer, and then the elegant, refined speech of a gentleman. When there are chapters that require a lot of dialogue, writing longhand helps me work it out as I go, so that, I believe, it sounds more realistic.

And look at how pretty these journals are! I can't remember when I bought them, but they've been sitting in my bookcase. Like most authors, we see a gorgeous journal and we must have it. We plan on writing in them, but most of the time, we don't because they're too pretty. As I declutter and think about downsizing and simplifying my life, I'm using things that I've 'saved' for one reason or another. I'm writing this book in the journals. I'm signing bills with that sparkly pen. I'm wearing perfume to the grocery store.

I don't think it will take that much longer to write the story (talking about just the basic draft) because when I use my laptop, I go back and see an error and want to fix it, and then spend more time revising and changing than I do adding more words. (That's breaking the cardinal rule of NaNoWriMo: write it down FIRST, revise LATER.) Handwriting forces me to go forward or I'd be erasing pages, and that is not happening. Sure, I might have more revisions when I'm done, but I think I can catch a lot as I type the story into in my laptop.

It's an interesting experiment, but somehow it gives me a serenity while writing that I don't get when I use the laptop. I can't rush the writing or the writing gets too sloppy making it almost unreadable, or I get cramps in my hand. Slow and easy, thoughtful and deliberate. That's the theme of this experience.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes-

Char