Procrastination

This is a “having trouble getting started day,” so I thought I’d write a post on procrastination in order to procrastinate on what I should really be doing, which is working on Chapter 12 of Book II.

I don’t often procrastinate, but when I do, it almost always sneaks up on me. This morning I’ve done some yoga, picked veggies in my garden, done the dishes, had breakfast, thoroughly scrubbed the kitchen sink, watched an episode of “New Girl,” made two phone calls, cuddled my cat, and paced the apartment. I was about to start packing for a camping trip I’m taking next week when a very small voice in my head said, “shouldn’t you do some writing today?”

Oh yes. That. Yes, I was planning on spending the morning writing, wasn’t I? This led to more pacing, which led to me actually opening my laptop, which led to me thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve made a blog entry, and wouldn’t it be a good idea to do that now, while I’m thinking about it?

Meanwhile, Chapter 12 looms ominous on the horizon. What about it is so threatening that I’d rather scrub my kitchen sink than confront it? My house is never cleaner than when I’m avoiding writing. It’s not like I don’t know what to write. Last week I wrote out summaries of each scene in Chapter 12. I’ve written two of the four scenes, and they’re both working pretty well. The last two are basic. I’ve drafted parts of what happens in them before, even though I’ll be writing these from scratch now, because a lot (including my writing skills) has changed since I wrote those drafts. There are no big surprises here.

And maybe that’s the problem. In future I’ll devote a post to explaining my writing process, which I changed dramatically for Book II, from discovery writing to a very structured form of summarizing. In many ways, having this structure has freed my composition process, because I can focus on language instead of on figuring out the plot. I can iron out all the issues before I draft huge chunks that have to be cut or re-written. But in other ways, it’s made the process a tiny bit less engaging. Now I know exactly what is going to happen before I write it. I still get surprised by the characters, and have to adjust my summary accordingly, but everything is a little less spontaneous.

The other thing that might be causing me to rebel is that very bad things are happening right now in Book II. Horrible things are happening to characters I care about. If I was reading this book for the first time, I’d be on the edge of my seat, wanting to find out if they survive. But because I know the answer to that question, I’m just reading about horrible things happening to characters I care about.

What’s the solution to this kind of procrastination? In the end, there is only one solution: sit down and write. Close down your browser, block out all other distractions. Do whatever ritual you need–music, a specific place to sit, walking around your chair three times, a cup of tea–to help you get into your “writing zone” and then sit down, open your page, and type (or freehand, if you are one of those amazing people who still do it).

I’ve heard from other creative people that sometimes the best ideas they’ve ever had came right after they had to push themselves a little more. They were working and were just about to stop from fatigue, but then they pushed past the fatigue, and something brilliant came out of it. I think the same can be true of procrastination. If you don’t sit down and write, you’ll never know what would have happened. The first few paragraphs might stink. But I propose that if you keep pushing, you’ll cross a rubicon and suddenly the story will begin to unfold almost as if by magic.

In my case, I think it’s just boredom. If I’m writing poorly, whether because of fatigue or a block, another part of my mind gets bored and takes over. “This council scene is boring. What if we put a dragon in the middle of this council scene? What then? Can we make that work?” This is another thing that I’ve heard from other authors and I firmly believe in: If you’re bored, your readers will be bored. If it’s boring, make it interesting.

Well, I’m getting bored of writing this post. I’m off to see if I can work a dragon into Chapter 12. Wish me luck.