Procrastination is a thing, kids.
It’s a real issue.
You likely struggle with it (or have struggled with it at some point in your life). I struggle with it. It’s amazing—all the things we do when we procrastinate.
No, I’m not saying it’s okay or cool to procrastinate (even though we sometimes do cool thing when we procrastinate); in fact, I very much advise against it. But, I don’t typically take my own advice.
So I’ve fallen into another procrastination rut, and today I was thinking about all the things I’ve done to avoid working on my WIP. The list is fairly varied—from things everybody does (like mindless hours on social media) to a few slightly more… unique ways to NOT be working on my novel. No, I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth.
So let’s dive in, shall we?
- Doing dishes.
This is lame on a few different levels. First, I’m supposed to be doing dishes anyway, so this shouldn’t be a phenomenon. Second, dishes? Instead of writing, dishes? Instead of plotting rebellions and battling dragons, dishes? Something is very wrong with this picture.
- Sleep.
Everyone probably does this, but I got it bad. Napping, guys, so alluring on a day off or a Sunday afternoon. Should I be writing? That would be a yes. Am I going to take a nap instead? Probably.
- Marathoning Limitless.
I can justify this a few different ways. Relaxation. Creativity recharge. Unique storytelling. It feeds my mad genius. Blah, blah, blah. (p.s. – you should probably watch Limitless the TV show. It only lasted one season, but that one season was en pointe.)
- Planting tomatoes under a blazing, blistering sun.
Yes, those tomato plants did need to get in the garden and all that jazz, but it came down to tomatoes or novel, and I picked tomatoes (and did I mention that that sun was blazing and blistering?).
Also, since planting said tomatoes, I’ve been able to opt out of more than one quick writing session to go water the tomatoes because apparently you can’t just stick them in the ground and expect great things (something about care and horticulture or something or other), and so that has resulted in several occurrences of “Oh, I should go write, but it’s a real bummer *wink wink* that those tomatoes need water to survive”.
- Reading various blogs about editing and revisions.
In case you’re new to Penprints, you should probably know that I’m in the editing stage of my WIP. Most of the heavy lifting is done when it comes to big revisions, but there are still a few things that need to change to redirect the story in a better direction. This is where the wonderful internet comes in.
The Story of How I End Up Reading Blog After Blog About Editing:
Me: “I’ve got half an hour of free time! I should go write!”
Also Me: “But do you really know what you’re doing? You should probably do some more research on this whole editing thing before you, you know, actually do editing.”
Me: “But I’ve read a couple books on editing and lots of blogs already! I just have to muscle through this and do it!”
Also Me: “Shhhhhhhhhhh. Just go find some more blog posts that talk about the ten thousand things you have to keep in mind while editing. It won’t overwhelm you at all.”
Me: “Good idea. Overthinking this is definitely the way to go.”
- Cleaning my room and study.
In case you didn’t read that right, I’ll say it again: cleaning my room and study. Wut? I thought about working on my novel, and the idea was so frightening to me that I decided to tear apart my room and then put it back together (that was three evenings down the drain this time) so that I wouldn’t have time to go through revisions. Something is very wrong with me.
- Starbucks trips with my friend, Amanda.
Now, this may not sound like a bad thing, and it isn’t (it’s that whole iron sharpening iron jazz). However, when Amanda and I get Starbucks, it’s not like an hour of chatting it up and talking about all the things. It’s like three solid hours of greatness. (Full disclosure, I actually see no down-side to this one because relationships trump writing every time, but I felt like I had to mention it because our latest hang out may or may not have resulted in neither of us finishing our to-do’s for last week. #oops #sorrynotsorry) (ALSO, Amanda is the gardening guru who gave me those tomato plants I told you about a minute ago, so there’s that too.)
- Lying around on the couch thinking about editing.
This is when I’m “trying to get motivated” because apparently a rapidly approaching deadline is not motivating enough. I sprawl on the couch and think wistfully of how I wish my novel would edit itself, and, please, for the love of all that is good, actually turn out to be the stunning, amazing, earth-shattering novel it is in my head. Too much time is passed in wistful reflection on the couch. Far too much.
- Marathoning season 3 of The Flash.
Yeah, this also has happened. I’ll tell my sister, “Arielle, I don’t have time to watch a movie tonight because I have to work on my novel. All I’ve got time for is an episode of The Flash.” But then, five episodes later, no editing has occurred.
- Rereading the earliest versions of Beauty and the Beast.
I convince myself this is a good thing because it’s “research”. Lol, it’s not.
- Writing this blog post.
First, I spent half an hour trying to come up with something to blog about this week. Guys, I can edit almost a whole chapter in half an hour sometimes. Then, of course, I chuckled manically while reflecting on all the things I’ve done instead of writing and spent the rest of the night (aka: Prime Editing Time) writing up this post on all the things I’ve been doing instead of working on my novel instead of working on my novel (see what I did there?).
So now I’m going to actually go work on my novel and stop procrastinating. Or not. We’ll see.
What about you? What sorts of things have you done in the name of Procrastination? What are some projects you’ve been avoiding? How do you not procrastinate (and you can’t say you “just do it” because that is cruel and unhelpful for those of us ailed with procrastination tendencies)?
With love,
Rosalie
P.S. – don’t forget to enter to win a print copy of The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson (this giveaway is open only to you, my dear followers).
P.P.S. – I find this whole post depressingly amusing and ridiculous, just so you know.
Penprints 