Tag: procrastination

Writing Tip of the Week: Stop Beating Yourself Up

Posted on by Ian Dawson
Molly planned to write this weekend but became so obsessed with creating the perfect cup of coffee for her writing time that she forgot to write. Now she’s upset she didn’t write, but darn it if that coffee didn’t turn out great!

We’ve all been there at one point or another.  You planned to sit down and write when you got home from work or over the weekend, and instead, you cleaned, read, or binge-watched something.  Now, you feel guilty and sick about wasting time that could have been spent writing and creating.  You vow not to do it again.

Why do we do this to ourselves?  

Let’s talk about it.

You’re Not Lazy; Your Subconscious Is

Humans have a lot going on, and sometimes we don’t take the time to prioritize things that we want to do. While we may have the desire and ambition to write, our subconscious secretly talks us out of it.  Why?  Because writing and creating take effort and energy, and after a long week at work staring at a screen, your brain is sick of computers and wants to veg out and do something mindless.  

Interestingly, we often plan to do things like write, only to find ourselves doing anything but writing.

Possible Solution: Trick yourself.  Don’t think about writing during the week.  Don’t plan to write, don’t carve out time to write.  Just jump in the chair and start whenever you get a spare moment.  Now you’re writing at the computer or with a pen and paper, and you’ve overridden your subconscious’s ability to stop you.

Let the Guilt Go

It’s easy to feel guilty about not writing.  Heck, the news wants us to feel guilty about pretty much everything, everywhere, all at once.  That alone is exhausting and taxing, so adding one more thing to the pile – especially something you want to do – only makes you feel worse about yourself.  There may be genuine reasons to feel guilt, but missing a day or weekend of writing shouldn’t be one of them.

Possible Solution:  Accept that you didn’t write when you wanted to, but know you will get to it when you can.  Creativity can’t flourish and grow under the oppressive weight of guilt and disappointment.  Free your mind from these things and allow your creative self the freedom it deserves. 

Newsflash: You’re Human

Part of being human is missing opportunities, making mistakes, and not getting to things we planned to do.  Oh well.  Life happens.  

And when life happens, we have to accept that we didn’t have the time to write, or we didn’t make the time to write, or chose not to write.  All of them are okay, and beating yourself up about past choices won’t help resolve or improve the present.  

Making the time, taking the time, and choosing to write and create is a positive and energizing process. You’ve done it before, and you’ll do it again.  So, you didn’t get to it this weekend.  Okay.  Or this month.  Uh-huh.  Or this year.  Whatever.  

Eventually, if you want it bad enough, desire it enough, and have the passion, you will get back to writing. 

One word at a time.  One sentence at a time.  One paragraph at a time.  You can make it happen, but don’t let negativity, guilt, or beating yourself up prevent you from getting there.

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!

The Self-Aware Writer – Self-Awareness & Self-Criticism

Posted on by Ian Dawson

Last time, we talked about the dangers of ego regarding writing and creativity.  Today, we’ll look at the opposite: the hazards of self-criticism and creativity.

Let’s get started.

Don’t Get Caught in the Downward Spiral

Negativity.  Our world thrives on it.  Death.  War.  Destruction.  Evil.  It seems as if we just can’t escape it, no matter how hard we try.  And while we can’t eliminate the negative forces in our external world, we can do something to eliminate them internally.  

Part of self-awareness is knowing when you bring those self-critical and negative thoughts into your mind that affect your ability to write and create.  It’s easy to let one negative thought evolve into a string that causes you to avoid writing altogether.  Allowing yourself to acknowledge the negative thought and then push it away is a great starting point to getting back at your writing and moving forward.

I know it can be challenging, but wallowing in self-criticism won’t help you.  And while it’s good to reflect on ways to improve as a writer, you can’t use reflection as a force for negativity.  Reflect, refresh, and write.  That’s the best way to improve.

When You Frown, Write It Down

Negative thoughts can suck the life force out of you.  So, when they pop up, write them in a journal.  Then, use it as a writing exercise to explain why you feel this way.  What is causing self-critical thought?  How can you resolve it?  I guarantee you that if it’s related to your writing or creativity, the best solution is to write.

If the negative thought is based on an aspect of writing you have difficulty with, it’s time to do some research.  Instead of feeling bad that you are bad at writing dialogue or have difficulty with description, look up articles or videos that can help you take the necessary steps to improve.  Take notes and use your newfound knowledge to practice this area of weakness.

Now you’re actively working on your writing and have turned those self-critical thoughts into something productive that will make you a better writer.

The Perils of Procrastination

Yes, the couch or your bed is inviting.  Yes, the final season of Barry is now available to binge.  And the world is on fire, so why don’t I just lay down and give up?

NO!

Procrastination is one of the easiest activities to do.  It takes no effort, takes up tons of time, and requires zero skill.  

But you have a story to write, and allowing yourself to get trapped in an endless cycle of YouTube videos or pointless social media arguments isn’t getting you any further in your story.

Relaxing is fine, but when you do it to avoid something else, it becomes a problem.  Part of being a self-aware writer is knowing when you procrastinate for the wrong reasons.  If you are doing it to avoid writing, ask yourself why.  Have you hit a challenging part of the story or the process you are actively avoiding?  Did something happen that has thrown your day off and caused you to lose focus?

As I talked about in the last section, write it out.  Journaling about your problems can be a great starting point for finding the solution you seek.  And journaling about the problem is an active way to solve it and gets you back to writing instead of mindlessly doom scrolling on your phone.

Next Time…

Utilizing self-awareness as a fiction writer is one thing, but how does one use it when writing non-fiction?  Ah, we’ll discuss that coming up.

Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!

Writing Tip of the Week: Avoiding Procrastination [Repost]

Posted on by Ian Dawson

So, you’ve finally sat down to write your story.  Your hands are poised over the keys.  The cursor blinks invitingly at the top of the blank Word page.  You have notes about your story scrawled on legal pads in mostly illegible writing.  The time has come to write.

But did you finish that last episode of Hoarders on Hulu?  You think you did, but you’re not sure if Dr. Zasio and Matt Paxton were able to help that woman with the 50 cats.  So, you look, and you did.  But the screenshot for the next one looks intriguing, so you start the episode.  Just to see if the home is as bad as you think it was.  And it’s worse!  Now you have to watch.

Three episodes later and it’s time for bed.  You decide you’ll write tomorrow, but after watching multiple episodes of Hoarders you’re now motivated to clean your house the next evening.

Welcome to procrastination.

Everyone procrastinates. We all put off stuff we either want to do or don’t want to do for some reason or another.  When it comes to writing, procrastination makes perfect sense: writing is work.  Hard work. And if you’ve spent all week at a desk in front of a computer, the thought of doing that at night or on the weekend becomes something you want to avoid at all costs.

To me, procrastination is okay.  To a point. But while you are binge-watching TV shows or going down the YouTube video rabbit hole, ask yourself why you’re avoiding writing.  It’s more than just the whole desk/computer/work thing.  Is there a problem with the story?  Do you not like the story?  Would you rather write something else?

With any form procrastination, there is a root cause for its existence.  But when participating in the act of procrastination, I say you need to embrace it.  Don’t kick yourself or beat yourself up.  What’s the point?  If you really wanted to write right now, you would be. 

At some point, however, you need to realize that your story needs to be written, and that all the TV shows, cleaning, and reading of junk mail won’t solve your procrastination problem. Is there a better time for you to write other than the evenings or weekend?  Could you stay a little after work and write at your desk?  Could you go to a local bookstore, library, or coffee shop with fewer distractions, turn off your phone, and write there? 

Also remember that all the shows, movies, and other things that you use as tools of procrastination will still be there when you’re done writing.  And you’ll feel better when you do finally sit down to watch because you’ve accomplished your writing tasks for the day.

Sometimes the Procrastination Resolution (sounds like the title of an episode of The Big Bang Theory) comes by changing environments and limiting the distractions.  By subtracting your distractions, you then give yourself and your brain the freedom to get down to business and write.

Now it’s time for me to stop procrastinating and write some new posts for the coming weeks!

Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!

Writing Tip #2: Avoiding Procrastination

Posted on by Ian Dawson

So, you’ve finally sat down to write your story.  Your hands are poised over the keys.  The cursor blinks invitingly at the top of the blank Word page.  You have notes about your story scrawled on legal pads in mostly illegible writing.  The time has come to write.

But did you finish that last episode of Hoarders on Hulu?  You think you did, but you’re not sure if Dr. Zasio and Matt Paxton were able to help that woman with the 50 cats.  So, you look, and you did.  But the screenshot for the next one looks intriguing so you start the episode.  Just to see if it’s as bad as you think it was.  And it’s worse!  Now you have to watch.

Three episodes later and it’s time for bed.  You decide you’ll write tomorrow, but after watching multiple episodes of Hoarders you’re now motivated to clean your house the next evening.

Welcome to procrastination.

Everyone procrastinates. We all put off stuff we either want to do or don’t want to do for some reason or another.  When it comes to writing, procrastination makes perfect sense: writing is work.  Hard work. And if you’ve spent all week at a desk in front of a computer, the thought of doing that at night or on the weekend becomes something you want to avoid at all costs.

To me, procrastination is okay.  To a point. But while you are binge-watching TV shows or going down the YouTube video rabbit hole, ask yourself why you’re avoiding writing.  It’s more than just the whole desk/computer/work thing.  Is there a problem with the story?  Do you not like the story?  Would you rather write something else?

With any form procrastination, there is a root cause for its existence.  But when participating in the act of procrastination, I say you need to embrace it.  Don’t kick yourself or beat yourself up.  What’s the point?  If you really wanted to write right now, you would be. 

At some point, however, you need to realize that your story needs to be written, and that all the TV shows, cleaning, and reading of junk mail won’t solve your procrastination problem. Is there a better time for you to write other than the evenings or weekend?  Could you stay a little after work and write at your desk?  Could you go to a local bookstore, library, or coffee shop with fewer distractions, turn off your phone, and write there? 

Also remember that all the shows, movies, and other things that you use as tools of procrastination will still be there when you’re done writing.  And you’ll feel better when you do finally sit down to watch because you’ve accomplished your writing tasks for the day.

Sometimes the Procrastination Resolution (sounds like the title of an episode of The Big Bang Theory) comes by changing environments and limiting the distractions.  By subtracting your distractions, you then give yourself and your brain the freedom to get down to business and write.