Procrastinating

It's what I'm doing right now. Blogging instead of writing. Why?

The story is in a great spot. Anything could happen. A kiss. A fight. And yet I resist the urge to open my laptop and continue the story. What is the cause of procrastination? I have heard fear and I think it may be true.

The thought that I might sit down and spend an hour to write what I'll only discover later is junk, is very scary. But if I don't force myself to do it, then I won't have anything to fix later. And the fact of the matter is, I always fix stuff. It doesn't have to be perfect the first or even second time around.

It WON'T be perfect.

This realization is what inevitably draws me back into my story.

Do you procrastinate with your writing? How do you inspire yourself to move forward?

On a side note, my four year old threw up on the way to T-ball today. It made for a stinky ride. (Yes, I went home and cleaned him up, but the seatbelt still stunk) I think I'm going to blame Kristen for spreading the germs via the comment window. LOL

Comments

Kasie West said…
Ahh, procrastination, it is my best friend and my worst enemy. Sometimes, to excuse my procrastination, I tell myself that I work better under pressure. Ha. Sometimes I believe myself too. Thanks for stopping by my blog today. :)
Renee Collins said…
I am actually in a similar place with my story. I want the beginning to go right, so I am afraid to write a new scene only to realize that it's superfluous (or bad.)

Thanks for visiting my blog. :) It's always fun to meet another mommy/writer.
Anonymous said…
Oh yeah. It's SO fear. I almost always procrastinate when starting a new chapter. For some reason, I feel like I'm standing on the brink of a realllllly high cliff, and I'm terrified of taking the plunge.It can be almost paralyzing sometimes...

But once I get the intitial first few sentences out and ground myself and my character, I'm fine.

Sorry about your little sicky. I hope he gets to feeling better soon. :-(
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for the congrats! Check out:
www.floridawriters.net and go to conference info site. The conference starts on Friday. Great schedule! I went last year and had a wonderful time. Learned lots, networked and can't wait to go this time! Hope to see you there!
Hi Jessica -

I've heard so many folks talking about this subject lately. Procrastination is an epidemic.

You've given me some ideas for a blog post. Thanks for the jump start. :)

Sorry about the little one. Is he okay?

Blessings,
Susan :)
Jessica Nelson said…
Hey everyone,
Matthew was fine the rest of the day so I think he's okay. I guess the honey nut cheerios affected his tummy, LOL
Jessica Nelson said…
Hi Renee,
It is fun. We have a lot in common when we're both mommys and writers. :-)

Donna, Thanks for the link! I probably won't be able to this year, but next? I hope you have tons of fun.
Jessica Nelson said…
Anita and Susan,
Thank you so much for always commenting. It's an encouragement to me and I appreciate the time you guys take out of your day to read my post and share your thoughts. Thank you!
Jessica Nelson said…
Okay, so I'm way out of order here, but thanks Kasie for coming my way too!
I'm glad to have found some other writer blogs to lurk on :-)
And learn from.
Kristen Painter said…
If it weren't for procrastination, I'd have no breaks. lol

Sorry about your kid, but my sickness didn't include barfing. My cats do it on a regular basis, tho, so if you want to blame them I'm fine with it.
Rita Gerlach said…
Ah, the joys of motherhood!

Interesting post. Sometimes we need a break from writing, to think, to ruminate over are story. The old rule that a writer must write every day has caused so much quilt, that it actually can stifle creativity. Procrastination, on the other hand, is making the decision to not decide. If you let it take anchor, you could lose momentum.

I recall reading about one famous author who was sitting by a window staring outside. He was asked what he was doing and he replied, 'writing'.

You have determine if you are procrastinating or ruminating. Which is it?
Rita Gerlach said…
Sorry! I typed 'are' when it should be 'our'. Yikes!
Jessica Nelson said…
Hey Rita,
That is very, very true. I do ruminate quite often. Hehe.
No, I know when I'm procrastinating. It's when I know what I want to write next but can't seem to get my bootie in the chair.
Your advice is right on, though. Thanks for stopping by. :-)
Patty Wysong said…
LoL--I stopped by after seeing you pop on Just Write It...because I'm procrastinating getting back to work after a week of having my parents here. Sooooooo, now I'll crawl off and get to work. LoL.
Angie Ledbetter said…
Procrastination can be a good thing, especially if your WIP or whatever project you're currently dating is bubbling in the back of your mind. Otherwise, it might turn into a chore or job.
Jessica Nelson said…
Haha, have fun Patty :-) Your name sounds SO familiar. I think I'll head over to your blog. I'm sure I've seen you around somewhere.
That's kinda cool that you came over here from JustWriteIt.
Thanks for stopping by. :-)
Jessica Nelson said…
Hi Angie,
Yeah, you're right. Sometimes we need a break. But LOL, I do look forward to it being a job someday.
Hehehe
However, I don't want to lose my love for writing either. So I guess you're saying procrastination can be a tool? Very interesting.
Been procrastinating for about 2 weeks now...not necessarily a bad thing, but rather intentional I hope. I'm a non-fiction writer and have long admired those who write fiction. Thanks for stopping by the blog. Would love to learn more about your writing journey as time allows.

peace~elaine
I work better under pressure I keep asking myself, why? But it sims that I do better when I'm in a crush. I guest I'm just funny like that.

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