Oh, That Nasty Practice

As I pondered topics for today’s blog, my mind skipped past several ideas and latched on to a practice that seems to come very naturally to me: procrastination.

Ah, I see some nods of agreement out there. We all know this skill is one many writers have honed well. Deep down, we know there are a host of reasons for letting other tasks run roughshod over our writing.

Writing is difficult. When the Muse is with us, we can spend hours at the keyboard without being aware of the passage of time. But, much more often, we write and rewrite and rewrite again in futile attempts to keep the flow going and get the words just right. The funny thing is, the more we procrastinate, the harder it is. The routine of writing everyday actually makes the words flow easier. Once we get out of the habit, we defeat ourselves.

Many of us have sub-conscious fears. Fear of failure and fear of success seem to haunt a large percentage of writers. We are afraid what we write won’t be good enough, won’t satisfy our readers, won’t be accepted by our publishers. And if it is good enough, how will we maintain that level? We will have new expectations to meet, additional tasks, marketing.

Excuses abound. Family members need attention. The house needs cleaning. Other commitments can’t be ignored. We need to exercise. Groceries haven’t been purchased for a week. Noise is bothersome. The dog needs to be walked. A jigsaw puzzles calls for our focus. Email and social media and computer games clamor for priority. Our favorite TV program beckons. Our day jobs tire us out.

I think I have personally used every one of those excuses.

Now, I’m not saying we can’t prioritize and I refuse to say that “if you truly want to be a writer, you must make writing a priority.” I think those are personal decisions based on our personal situations. There was a time in my life when my family HAD to be my priority and the day job had to be built into the schedule. That didn’t lessen my desire to be a writer–it simply meant that I needed to adjust my goals and my routine to fit my life.

What I am saying is that “if you want to be a writer, you must learn to avoid procrastination like the plague.”

Wow.

I have the time, I have the space, I have a supportive man who takes routine tasks off of my shoulders. So why am I not writing every single day?

My personal excuse is “other commitments.” I find it difficult to say no and tend to over-extend myself in volunteering for committees and boards. It isn’t that I’m looking for other things to do. I care about the organizations I belong to and want to contribute my skills. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem is that I have taken on so much that I had to shift those tasks into my writing time in order to honor them and now I’m in a negative habit of NOT writing.

I knew saying yes to those tasks would rob me of writing time but I still did so and I recognize it was in direct response to being asked to alter my story visions in order to satisfy mass market publishers who were nibbling at my manuscript as well as an attempt to rush an unfinished manuscript that just wasn’t flowing right. Once I realized that, I adjusted my publication goals and now have a new offer from Five Star Fiction. Two manuscripts await attention.

But I still have those multiple lingering volunteer jobs to finish up. Thankfully, many of them now almost completed—enough so that this morning, I made a commitment.

I will return to a DAILY writing ritual. Because I have upcoming travel that will disrupt routine, I will start this in September. I will use the upcoming RMFW Colorado Gold Conference to re-energize me and jumpstart this practice. I will not volunteer in multiple roles for multiple organizations and those volunteer tasks that I have yet to finish or agree to take on in the future will be regimented to a specified time slot each day—after my writing.

Anyone want to join me?