Sarah Alderson's Blog: Writing and all the bits in between - Posts Tagged "procrastination"

I'm about 1000 words off finishing the third installment of my Fated series, the first of which is out in January next year.

I started writing it one month ago to the day. It's been the fastest book I've ever written and my best friend who reads all my books as I write them (chapter by chapter) tells me it's the best book of mine she's read so far. And I think she might be right. I love it. But for some reason I'm dragging my heels on the last chapters.

Last chapters are always hard to write - final dramatic show downs, wrapping up story lines, making sure all the characters get some kind of ending or reference - it's a challenge. But this ending is even harder to write than normal. I think maybe it's because I don't want to leave these characters because secretly I'm in love with them. Well not so secretly. But yes, I am actually in love with figments of my imagination.

But when you meet them hopefully you'll see why.

Anyway, today I have astounded myself with the lengths I will go to to procrastinate. I think I should win a medal or something.

Check this out. My top ten list of ways to procrastinate when writing a book.

1. Watch Battlestar galactica


2. Make coffee even though don’t drink coffee

3.Contemplate doing the laundry (don’t actually do it but do clear up daughter’s discarded pyjamas and put in laundry bin)

4. Try to convince dog to write the chapters for me

5. Take photographs for posterity of the post-its stuck above my desk.

6. Tweet

7. Upload photos

8. Write this blog post

9. Check facebook five million and ninety one times

10. Play around with spotify playlist for book.

Fated

Procrastinating is an art form. I write super fast (completing a book every three months) but that's not to say I don't know how to procrastinate like a pro too. I've just learned to manage my procrastination with a few techniques...(though there's nothing like having no other income to get you over the hurdle of procrastination...if I don't write I starve...or I live off my husband - neither very appealing options).


The things I am often doing when I tell my husband I am extremely very busy writing and cannot be disturbed are: reading Lainey Gossip so I am in the loop about the latest happenings concerning Ashton & Demi, Tom & Kstie, Justin & errr whoever, sending emails to fans who want to know if Lila & Alex will be having sex in the sequel, checking Facebook, refreshing my Goodreads author page 60 times a minute, watching Sons of Anarchy (and freeze-framing Jax) / Breaking Bad / True Blood, Tweeting, ordering take-out, checking the fridge for hidden chocolate supplies, eating take-out and downloading music on Spotify.


Yours may be fairly similar. But without further ado, here are my tips to help you stop procrastinating. This list is not definitive and it may not even help. There are more ideas covered off in my previous blog post about how to write a book in 30 days.


1. Speech
Start with dialogue if you don’t know where or how to start. Even if you then cut it out it’s a useful way of getting to know what’s happening in your characters’ heads in that scene. I often find that writing a conversation down (forget the punctuation and speech marks for the moment) gets the ball rolling. Then I go back and fill in the ‘stage directions’.

2. Maria Von Trapp was Wrong
You don’t need to start at the very beginning. If it’s that first sentence that’s freaking you out. If the cursor is blinking at you causing you a mental meltdown, skip forward, release the pressure of the first line and first paragraph. Start on the second chapter or write just one scene. I wrote the kiss between Alex and Lila before I wrote the first chapter of Hunting Lila because that scene I could really visualize. Oh yeah.

3. Oprah
Imagine the finished book in your hand, glossy covered, embossed with a Richard & Judy Summer Reads sticker, in the hand of Oprah, on the 3 for 2 table next to Twilight.

Ain’t none of that gonna happen unless you write the damn thing.

4. I can't believe I'm about to say this...but...
Exercise is not procrastination.
Swim or go somewhere where you have to be alone and where there is no wifi and where through repetitious action your mind is cleared and you can drift into daydreams and do your plotting. But keep a notebook by the pool. Or a Dictaphone in your pocket if you’re running. I find that after a swim my head is teeming with ideas and I usually rush back to my computer and write for hours straight.

5. Seek help for your addiction
Turn off the internet – I still find myself flicking to Facebook whenever I reach a roadblock in a manuscript. It’s an automatic reaction and I can’t stop myself, like an alcoholic reaching for the whisky bottle. Facebook is my crack. I’m telling you to turn off the internet though I’ve not yet mastered this myself and have already checked it about a dozen times since I started writing this post. When I figure out how to really overcome this addiction I will let you know.

6. Music
Like surgeons listening to Vivaldi as they carry out triple heart bypasses...pressing the play button can set the scene and help you write better. I create playlists on Spotify (another procrastination?) and listen to them over and over when I’m writing the book. A specific song can put me right into the heart of a scene quicker than my imagination can take me there. If you feel like procrastinating for number 7 then you can check out my playlists on my website.

7. Ration
Allow yourself 5 minutes of procrastination only. Set the clock. And episodes of True Blood are 45 minutes to don’t think you can squeeze just the one in before you start writing.

8. Cheerleaders
I send every chapter I write to my two best mates. They’re my reading buddies. I write for them and because they’re always hungry for the next chapter it makes me write faster! If you’re too embarrassed to send your writing to friends or writing buddies then get over it quickly. Sharing your writing can only help you in the long term. Charles Dickens used to write his stories serial style…chapter by chapter...so I figure if it worked for him…

9. Editing
Pdf it and add it to your ipod or Kindle or iPad then read it as if it’s already a book. That way you can read and make notes as you’re on the bus, in the bath, in a boring work meeting…I used to take my ms on the train with me to work and would deliberately not bring a book so it was either edit it or sit there staring at the person opposite for half an hour. And as the person sitting opposite was never Alex Skarsgard I got a lot of editing done. Also I used to take pages of it into meetings with me and edit when I was supposed to be listening to my boss talk about very boring things. It's a good job I sold my books and moved to Bali as I think I'd have been fired by now otherwise.

10. If you're going to do it then do it properly
If you’re going to procrastinate at least do it for a good reason. Don’t do it to watch re-runs of Gossip Girl or to clean out the fridge. Procrastination which feeds your imagination (and not in a ‘Dan, Nate or Chuck?’ kind of way), inspires new thoughts, opens your eyes to new world or possibilities or energizes you (apparently exercise does that) is not procrastination – it’s utterly and completely necessary for a writer to procrastinate in these circumstances though never for too long.

11. Stop reading this and go write that book.