How do you deal with procrastination?

[Kristiina]

I've got about one third left to go, I know what is going to happen, I can think up conversations and descriptions and whatnot when I'm walking or driving or watching tv or doing about anything else except writing, I just can't seem to be able to get any of that down. I have even managed to open the file on several days, but then I just dawdle for a while, realize I can't really think of anything and besides I sort of want a cup of tea right about now and never mind I should have finished this thing already, several weeks or maybe months ago. And the rest of the time I'm busy planning the next thing, or several. Help!

[Triangulos]

I'm procrastinating right now. In fact every time I come on this site I could (should) strictly be writing instead, and I wonder how many regulars here can say that!

The only advice I can offer is that when I really do force myself to get working, I get into the flow pretty quickly and end up kicking myself for all those previous times I could have just got on with it and how much further on I'd be if I had done.

I've tried kidding myself that my procrastination is actually my subconscious marshalling my thoughts so that what I eventually write comes out better, but so far I don't buy it. It really is just timewasting :-/

T.

[Shweta]

I write with other writer friends. When I am procrastinating, their productivity guilts me, and vice versa.

[HeronW]

Sometimes you just need to park butt in chair, don't surf, just open the file and write. I lay off for over a year due to depression and health issues though I kept thinking about the story, taking notes here and there. it waited for me, things are still bothersome but I'm getting a bit more done every day.

Certain things can make the comp just feel plain uncomfortable: a screen set at the wrong resolution, or catching glare and making it hard to see, repetitive strain injury can be alleviated by getting ergonomic keyboards set up like ///\\\ vs ||||||, the 3M mouse handles like a joystick sort of, much easier on the wrist. New glasses can ease eye strain. A change of chairs or a new cushion can ease leg strain.

[IdiotsRUs]

Dealing with procrastination is easy: put it off till tommorrow. Yeah, groanworthy I know.

Actually I use the carrot on a stick. I may not have that choccy bar till I've done X. I cannot have a cup of tea till this scene is fleshed out. I may not have that yummy looking bottle of wine till I have got down 1000 words.

The carrot gets me started -- and that's the hard part done, because once I'm started it's easy.

[Staroffurby]

You just need to be forceful, the problem i find is using a computer to write. That computer being connected to the net. So you sit down and think, Oh i will just check emails first. This then progresses until your looking at random sites forgetting that your mission is to write. Then again i have also found inspiration from just randomly surfing the web.

When i finish writing for the day i always stop mid sentence, this normally encourages me to start writing as soon as the document is open.

Like others have admitted when i am here, its because i am a naughty boy and i should be writing.

[Shweta]

Actually I use the carrot on a stick. I may not have that choccy bar till I've done X.
<snip>
The carrot gets me started -- and that's the hard part done, because once I'm started it's easy.

Oh! That reminds me. I do this too. No hot chocolate until I've put down 500 words. But every 500 words (in one day) gets me a shot glass-sized serving of really nummy hot chocolate.

When i finish writing for the day i always stop mid sentence, this normally encourages me to start writing as soon as the document is open.

I have heard this is an awesome motivator. I can't do it. I've tried. How do you people manage it? Every time, I've given up (at some ungodly hour) and gone Sigh, okay sentence, I Will Finish You, then may I sleep?

[sabo10]

One way I dealt with it when I was writing my novel was to create a spreadsheet showing my daily wordcount. Every time I minimised the word processor window, I would update my wordcount instead of checking my email. It was quick and refocused me.

(Now I'm editing the novel and this method doesn't work anymore. Oh well.)

[DVGuru]

I find I procrastinate a lot less with a basic outline on index cards. When I wrote without an outline, there were times I would stare at the screen for an entire writing session and maybe end up with a few paragraphs. Now I sit down and bang out the words. This may or may not work for you, depending on your view of outlining.

[tehuti88]

The only way to deal with procrastination is to just sit down and DO. It sounds harsh, but as a great procrastinator I've found that that's the only thing that works for me.

Other posts mentioned ideas I also use; if you're itching to get up and do something else, tell yourself you can do that AFTER you've done, say, 50% of what you plan to write for the day. I've been taking notes on my writing so I can keep track of where it's going and have to do two chapters a day, and it gets excruciating. My attention wanders so much. I'll look out the window and want to do something as simple as just get up and look out at the birds on the porch. But I make myself sit and keep taking the notes, reading over the words over and over until they make their way into my brain. I tell myself I can go look at the birds when I'm halfway through the chapter, but only for a moment or so. Then I have to get back to work until it's done. Maybe I can take a break and eat something when I'm done with the first chapter. But then, again, it's back to work.

Also mentioned was to stop the previous day's work in midsentence. I don't go so far myself, but I've found that stopping in the middle of the action, when you KNOW what you want to happen next, is a wonderful way to easily get started writing the next day. I used to write about 20kb a day until I found I was always struggling to start the next day. I cut that in half and always left off in the middle of a scene so I could pick up the next day with something interesting. You might want to leave a tiny note for yourself though so you don't forget where it was your story was going when you left off!

[runner4life]

I love procrastinating! Although, I know I'll end up yelling at myself at the end of the day when I don't even finish 500 words. Since I normally have an outline of some sort, I'll at least begin looking over that. Then I basically have to force myself to sit down and write.

That really is the only way to get over it. ^^^

[maestrowork]

I come online, here, to moan about it. ;)

[Round John Virgin]

How do you deal with procrastination?
Adderall. And the deep-seated suspicion that procrastination is actually a good thing, since its payoff is immediate!

[Kristiina]

Allright, I just got my really, reaally old mac on the table. It's way too slow for a net connection, and there is a limit on how many words you can get in one Word document, but otherwise it's still working fine. I have to admit internet can be a big distraction, so maybe if I can't get online when I'm trying to work it will be easier to focuse.

Except then I can always go and make that cup of tea.

Wish me luck.

[Bing Zabriskie]

I have a similar situation. I'm, well, I guess I'm at about 2/5 and I'm stuck. I can't go on, so I start to fool around, hoping a little time off will help.

I still occasionally go back to earlier parts of the story and my outlines, fixing tiny pieces here and there. Somehow, somewhere, I suddenly realized what had actually happened. I have a very lively MC, my hero, who is packed with good and severely flawed personalities. The heroine, however, has no flaws. She doesn't look real, and I can't feel her. How I realized it? The upcoming parts are hers, and I found it very difficult to go on--not much to show. I started to search, trying to establish some flaws in her, giving her conflicts to deal with. I'm near finished on that, and I think I'll be getting busy very soon again.

I think at times procrastination isn't really procrastination. You may stop for a million reasons, some you simply may not have realized, and you can't go on without dealing with them first.

[DeborahM]

I deal well with procrastination. I can sit and watch it all day when it comes to other things except writing.

When I write, I write till I'm brain dead, then try to lie down and sleep, which sometimes doesn't work because then my brain comes alive and I have to get up and type until I can't any more. In other words, when I'm in a book, not even sleep gets in it's way.

[TrickyFiction]

Guilt. Having someone want to read it. Finding out that other people are writing faster than me. Realizing people who I think are going too slowly are actually moving faster than me. All these things put a fire under my bum.

[kzmiller]

Make it hurt. When I don't reach my writing goals (and I make them super easy when I'm in the dumps, have health issues or a busy schedule) I have to pay a dollar to my writing group. A dollar won't hurt me financially, but boy, having to hand over a dollar right there in front of everybody for a missed goal motivates me to make my goal for the next time.

Some writers need it to hurt more. A friend of mine said he'd buy a round of beverages for the writer's group if he didn't make a goal for that month. Not only did he make all but one of his goal months, attendance to the writer's group meetings jumped!

[Shweta]

I dislike making it hurt, personally. I function better with carrots than sticks -- because I'm too good at beating myself up as is.

So probably works differently for different people (whoda thunk) :)

[Dale Emery]

Help!

Procrastinate later.

[Manderley]

I eat ...

[Stormhawk]

I just give in and let it take over.

Then I go back to the chapter, all nice and rested. ^_^

[zornhau]

I fix the problem with the novel's structure and move on.

[Momento Mori]

I'm going to come back and answer this later ...

Oh, okay I'll do it now.

I think a lot of getting over procrastination lies in actually getting into the habit of actually sitting down at your computer and typing something. As you get into a routine, it gets easier to sit there and concentrate and therefore you're less likely to procrastinate.

In my case, I do it by working out how I'm going to spend my evenings when I get home from work (i.e. I know I'll have 30 minutes for dinner, maybe 30 minutes to make a phone call or watch tv and then the rest of the night at my comptuer). It helps that I do a print out every night of what I've been working on and spend my lunchbreak the next day reading through and making notes on it (I'm one of life's self-editors and it helps me keep the self-editing OCD under control), so that I have something immediate to do when I get home. I also make a note on whatever piece of dialogue/backstory/plot point/character issue I've thought about during the day, so that there's an on-going folder of things for me to consider.

MM

[TrickyFiction]

Okay, so actually, here's what helps me the most... even more than guilt. If it's natural for you to put things off by doing other things, just shift your priorities around. If you think, I must mow the lawn, gotta mow the lawn, you'll suddenly start writing as a way to put off mowing the lawn. Seriously. I never get more writing done than when I'm taking a class and have homework due.

[windyrdg]

Using your old Mac is a good idea.
I write in the guest bedroom on an old computer that has nothing on it except my files. I don't play music and I keep the blinds shut. My computer would go onto the Net, but I deliberately haven't hooked it up. The Net computer is in the living room and I usually only allow myself a few minutes in the morning to see if the world's still out there, then my lunch break and/or at the end of the afternoon when I've got my writing done.

Procrastination is a universal problem. Funny, how when you face sitting down to write, cleaning the toilet starts to sound inviting? I think it's our fear our failure that keeps us away from the writing. (If you never try, you can never fail.) Fear also keeps us from stretching as much as we are capable of.

Good Luck with the Mac.

[MsK]

Procrastination is the reason I've gained 10 lbs in the past 4 months! Every time I sit down to write, I get this little thought, maybe I should have some celery and peanut butter before I start. Down the stairs I go to get my snack. And, once I finish that and sit back down to write, I think, maybe I should have some iced tea and one of those oatmeal cookies I saw on the counter when I went to get the celery. Back down the stairs I go. And, once I finish the cookie, I think, maybe I need to get one more cookie so I can get the cookie thing off my mind and concentrate on my writing. Back down the stairs I go. Finally, I sit down in front of the computer, finish the cookie and thats when I notice that my ice tea is almost gone ...

[Mumut]

You have hit the cookie on the head. If you can't plan, two things happen - you don't get your book finished and you put on weight. Unfortunately, in my experience, it is hard to find a 'normal' day, but if I am at home with nothing else I've been told to do, I make sure I don't move from the computer once I sit down at it. I have my music, computer, jug of water and recliner chair all together - then it's willpower, or more precisely won't power. But once I get into my work, the story takes over and time passes without me wanting to stop.

So perhaps your weight will be an indication of how interesting the story is.

[dianeP]

Sometimes I know I just have to put the book aside and come back later. I need a breather.

Two years ago I read this book. I loved it and loved the writting style. But I then felt so inadequate as a writer, I didn't work on my book for over six months.

But eventually the itch came back and I got into my writting again. What I learned from that is not to read while I write.

[johnzakour]

I just wait for it to go away. It always does. Then it comes back again. It's a vicious cycle. :)

[mscelina]

I put off dealing with it.

By writing.

[sassandgroove]

I'll worry about it tomorrow.





Sorry, couldn't resist.

[jenstrikesagain]

I don't procrastinate about writing, much, but I do seem to go through phases where I'm hyperfertile and can't hardly seem to stop (usually right around the time I'm most likely to get pregnant, oddly enough) alternating with weeks when I do very little, poke around, maybe edit here and there. If I were doing this for a living or on a deadline it might be different, but for now it just seems to be, so I just kind of accept it. Procrastinating about PUBLISHING, on the other hand--I've got years of reasons why I can't write letters to editors and agents. How in hell do people send out 140 query letters at a time?! Utterly baffled by that.

[MsK]

So perhaps your weight will be an indication of how interesting the story is.

You made me laugh Mumut. Yes, my goal is to write only interesting stories from now on. :)

[CCE]

Although the joke was already made about putting it off for tomorrow, that isn't that far off from the truth for me.

I work in a home office, so it is easy to get to my desk before I go to sleep. I make a detailed To-Do list before I go off to bed and include all the things I SHOULD have gotten done today. the next day I have to cross or check off things as I get them done.

I guess it helps to have the no nonsense instructions right in front of me in the morning.

[darrtwish]

I'm procrastinating right now, but probably because I'm distracted by the fact that my younger sister is at the Provincials Dart Tournament and I'm not. Though, if I wan't to stop procrastinating I have a spiral bound notebook that I write absolutely anything that comes to mind, even if it's something like complaining about my back hurting. I'll write about anything just to get the words started. Once I get warmed up, I find it's easy to switch over to my WIP.

[laidback]

I'm a big procrastinator too, so I probably shouldn't offer advice. But hey, this is the Internet so I'll offer advice anyway. Here's some things you could try:

Work from an outline so you already have some idea where you're going.
At the end of each session, make some notes to yourself on what needs to happen in the next scene.
Re-read the previous day's work to get you in the mood - at the very least it will get your butt in the chair.
Re-arrange your work area so there are fewer distractions
If you work on a laptop, try taking it somewhere, like outside, to a library, to a coffee shop, etc.

[sportacus]

I post on internet forums.

[picsbypat]

One of the ways I deal with procrastination is to recharge the batteries once or twice a year at a writer's conference. I just returned from Omaha where I attended the mystery writer's conference, Mayhem in the Midlands. I got to meet a lot of fellow writers and talk shop with them. One writer I met had her first novel published in 2003 and is now on book number twelve!!

There's nothing like seeing what your peers are doing to light a fire under you. If you've never attended a writer's conference, by any and all means, Go!

[DWSTXS]

The easiest way is to just change your meaning of the word 'procrastination' to 'research'.