Why we procrastinate! (us writers)

[farad]

 I'm not sure it's completely applicable here, but we've been pretty quite and it's a fun article, with things such as:

"“Work finally begins,” says Alain de Botton, “when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly.” For people with an extremely fixed mind-set, that tipping point quite often never happens. They fear nothing so much as finding out that they never had what it takes."

Most of here are more likely to be the ones who are relish challenges (" the people who dislike challenges think that talent is a fixed thing that you’re either born with or not. The people who relish them think that it’s something you can nourish by doing stuff you’re not good at.") but that doesn't mean I - um, we - don't periodically suffer the same procrastination issues.

"Why Writers Are the Worst Procrastinatorsr"

(by the by, I'm posting this while procrastinating doing some writing I need to do for school . . . )

Comments

[huntersglenn]

Guilty, but it has nothing to do with fear. If I knew why I procrastinated, then I could probably overcome it (grin). Sometimes, I think for me it's more a matter of laziness, although depending on the subject matter, it can also be because I don't really want to write what I've got to write. Or do the research. And that goes back to the laziness theory (grin).

[farad]

LOL - yeah, I got a lot of the "I don't want to write that" syndrome myself. I don't usually mind the research part of it, it's the having to actually write it. Due to all the days we've missed for school late (thank you, Mother Nature) I have had to cram a lot more into my classes, so I've been doing lots of notes for the students and putting them on-line. Yeah, lots of writing.

It's definitely cutting into my inspiration for fiction.

[huntersglenn]

Earlier today, I was reading an interview of an author, and the man also was a teacher. He mentioned the difficulty of giving writing advice, due to what he thought of as misconceptions of writing. This was where people often felt that you were born with a talent for writing, or had a 'gift' for it. He stated that anyone could be a writer, it just took a lot of practice and just sitting down and doing it. He then specifically mentioned a seminar he gave, where a young man asked what he was currently working on, and he had to say nothing, because up to that point, all of his writing had been for classes and for technical things, and nothing for anything else. And the soul-searching he did after that realization ended up with him writing a book (which was being promoted, hence the interview).

I agree and disagree with him, and everyone else who feels that writing is something that everyone can do, it just takes practice. Yes, a person can learn to write something that makes sense and conveys their intent to the reader, and practice does make that happen more easily. But, I think that pertains more to non-fiction writing, and even then, not to all non-fiction writing. My mother-in-law's uncle was an English professor, and he wrote two books in his lifetime. One was about some English author (Tennyson, I think), and the other his memoirs from WWII. And both books will put you to sleep. There's no spark in either book, nothing that makes you eager to turn the page to see what's going to be next (although with the memoir there is a sense of longing to find out if it gets better). He knew his craft, knew his subject matter. And technically, both books are excellent. But boring as can be.

As for fiction - yes, I guess a person could write fiction every day and be quite adept at the ins-and-outs of the craft, and turn out something that someone, somewhere, will like. But when someone such as J.R.R. Tolkien could make statements to the effect that a character Faramir) took over his story, and I've had that happen to me, then I cannot deny that inspiration - and the ability to go with that inspiration - plays a big part of the process for good fiction writers.

BTW, the Faramir reference was where Tolkien wrote back to a fan that Faramir walked out of the woods of Ithilien fully formed, and quite insistent on being more than just a mention in the Appendix (not his exact words). Then he had issues where he'd try to write Faramir doing or saying something, and Faramir apparently not agreeing. One specific thing was that he originally had Faramir insisting to his father and the counselors of Gondor that the outer defenses could not be allowed to be taken, and he was going to lead a troop out there to fight back, even knowing they'd be outnumbered. Denethor even tries to talk him out of it. Didn't work out that way (grin).

One of the reasons that my last installment of the Mag7/Falling Skies series is taking so long is that while I know what needs to happen, I can't find the right character to show it through. Nobody is cooperating with me, outside of Vin and/or Chris, and I've used Vin's POV more than anyone else's and am reluctant to use his again. But, it's beginning to look as if I have to. I also have an unfinished "ER" fic where one of the minor characters decided he wasn't happy as a minor character and wanted more time on the page (grin). I've been told that I'm full of BS when I speak about a Muse, or inspiration, or having a character take over, that a writer is in charge, period. And if you ever read a story by the person that insisted that was true, you'd see that while she had all of the technical things in place, and could write, her writings lacked something.

I don't think people realize just how draining and hard it can be to come up with stuff that's work-related. For you, it's also doing all of that research, and then whittling it down to what you think your students can handle and absorb. It's no good to throw a bunch of facts at them if they can't absorb said facts. For me with the reviews, I needed to watch the webinars more than once, and they were close to an hour long. Then there was the fact that the person giving the webinar is considered to be THE premier genealogist in the state and greatly revered by all. So finding a mistake or two on her part - things that needed to be pointed out in the review - had it's own difficulties. How do you tactfully point out that the number 1 person is wrong (grin)? Definitely nerve wracking.

Hopefully, you'll be caught up before the semester ends, and your fiction can once more get your full attention. Or most of it.