WAR WITH PROCRASTINATION

Have you ever browsed through blogs lately and the same topic just pings at your eyes? I’m sure a lot of you have seen the posts about procrastination, writer’s block, and I just have too much to do right now. We all have our own lives, and our own routines that are more important to us than writing, but I will say why do we have to make writing something that is grueling and a pain? I can understand writer’s block, believe me I’ve been through it, but do we really have writer’s block? Do we really just not have enough time during the day to be able to write?

I will say that I am probably one of the most laziest people on this earth. Nadine will tell anyone that, and I would not think less of her for saying that. I don’t know what it is that makes me condone this kind of behavior, but I think it’s because I have a lot of ideas spiraling in my mind, but I don’t know where to start. I’m not saying people are lazy and that’s why they don’t write. I’m just saying that is my personal reason for not writing sometimes. I will also say that I do have ideas pop up in my head, but I am terrible at keeping them organized. I have this issue at my job too. I walk in there and I just don’t know where to start and it gets absolutely overwhelming.

The funny thing is though, as soon as I start in one direction, I tend to find my way through the rest of the project. Everything plays together in the professional world. If you want to keep your job, you act professional. If you want to write for a living, you have to treat it as a profession. I actually keep a log of how much I write every day. Even if it’s not towards my book and it’s just simply writing a blog, or commenting on someone else’s blog. Also, every time I read someone else’s blog I tend to learn something new about this art. It can either be marketing my novel, or trying to get through those grueling first 20,000 words. I talk to some of my fellow bloggers about it, and it surprises me to see how many of us actually go through the same struggles.

This is how I plan out my days:

5 am – 9 am: Write at least 1000 words

9 am- 5 pm: Daily Routine/ Work/Read/Spend time with Nadine

5 pm- 7 pm: Blog/read/ Comment

That pretty much summed up my days the last few weeks, but I will admit some times I don’t get around to writing anything. I know I have the time to write, but I always tell myself I’ll do it later. I think that’s the worst response for any writer that they will write later cause later seems to never come and all of those ideas are congested.

I have found that reading other bloggers novels/posts gives me a lot of inspiration to want to write more. I enjoy interacting with the people around me on here because it’s fun to laugh off the frustrations of not finding the motivation to write, but when you think about it what are you doing right now? You are writing, adding followers, commenting, reading, or simply sitting there staring at a screen trying to check out the next hot chick’s blog/ hunks blog that pops up on your reader. (I couldn’t resist, I know too many on here who actually do that last one). Anyways, if you are really in a spot where you just can’t get the ball rolling, my suggestion would be to write 100 words. Then, the next day write 500 words. Then, push for 1000 words, but if you are really just having a hard time writing the story that you’re interested in, maybe you really aren’t interested in it? Maybe you just have an interest in that genre because you’ve read incredible pieces from other people, and you keep telling yourself, “I want to write like those authors!”

Sometimes it’s not as simple as just forcing yourself to write something you absolutely don’t know anything about. Maybe you should start off with a subject you know, and work your way into that genre. I did that. Hell, I even wrote a 400 page novel and tossed it in the shredder because I knew it was CRAP! Now, that was a very disappointing realization, but how many authors do you think go through that same rude awakening? I could name at least five on the top of my head, but we all have to experiment with our writing somehow. The best way is to just sit down and write continuously without stopping. Try to discover something deep inside yourself that you didn’t even know could be pulled from your soul. There is always a horizon inside all of us.