Procrastination

I’ve just finished reading the June issue of Writer’s Digest, and basically one author’s comments about procrastination has sparked my desire to write this.

The intent of this post is to do two things. One, it’s to say that I’ll be leaving this blog with only three posts (perhaps more) as a beginning. Second, it’s to expose the greater truth to procrastination.

For one I’m leaving for a volunteer job that spans from June to August, and being where this place is makes it difficult to be involved with the Internet. I hope during that time many people will have discussed what they’ve read here and I will return to answer many different and interesting comments.

Before I launch into the second point of this post I should mention a third. I am unapologetically Christian, but I am also unapologetically against the average spirit of a Christian. By reading this blog I will be saying things that are slanted in a Christian worldview, but it should in no way be the normal Christian worldview. I don’t mind shaking people’s foundations so long as I’m speaking the truth. I expect that I will be wrong in some things, but in others I cannot deny what I believe. I am a Christian, and will remain in such a state because I cannot deny a God that has never denied me.

Now, for my second point…

Procrastination is putting off something you know should be done now. I’m very familiar with it, especially when you’re talking about a 2400 page project (which is the story I’m writing). Something that big isn’t something you can just start and then end. It’s either a total immersion or a sputtering progress of about one page every other week.

Putting something off because you have to do other things is not procrastination. With that you have a different feeling associated with it and you don’t feel bad about leaving it, you simply know that you want to do it sometime. Procrastination is when you have a chance to write and you decide to use that time for relaxing or something else that is not a priority. It’s simply a choice not to get into the story.

For whatever reason, the story we know we’re supposed to write has a grip on us that demands proper attention. It’s a different feeling when we plug ourselves into the story. To some levels it’s a new plateau of being alive…it’s as if we’re setting something inside free. Why is it then that we choose to put it off?

I would compare writers to a runner. Those who run obviously keep doing it because they find some level of enjoyment. They may not have the life calling that we feel we do in writing, but with this illustration it’s close enough.

What does a runner do? Run. How does he get used to distances like 10-15 miles? He runs. So comparing writing to running, plugging into your world and setting that inner person free is like a muscle. If it stays unused you develop atrophy and you have to retrain the muscle. You can develop fat through procrastinating, or indulging. This is what procrastinating is.

By putting that inner person through workouts you refine your ability to write, which translates into a world that is much more magical to you, which ultimately gets through to your reader.

The worst thing to do in a situation of repetitive procrastination is to criticize yourself for what you’ve done in the past. That’s a sure-fire way to get back into procrastinating. The idea you should have in your mind is that this next stretch of time will not be the same way. Ultimately, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll know when you’ve procrastinated and when you’ve done something good.

I’ve heard authors say that their procrastination is a tool in the way that they’ve learned to deal with it. Let me tell you from personal experience, I’ve had my story uncompleted for the past seven years, which has led me to this conclusion: when you choose not to write (procrastinate) nothing gets written.

It’s up to you how to deal with your own habits of writing, but please don’t justify procrastination, there’s really none for it.