Procrastinating? Here’s how to break the pattern of putting off your writing.
by Katie Davis
When the year begins, all fresh and shiny, we tend to make promises to ourselves.
When we first took over the Institute for Writers, I wanted to help our community of writers––our students––so I polled them. I asked, “What do you think the top two reasons are for not starting (or continuing) your book?”
I thought the big answer would be “getting an agent” or “lack of publishing knowledge”, or something like that. The top answer by far was procrastination. Procrastination can grab hold and become a habit. It can allow you to play mind games with yourself.
If you don’t ever finish that book you’re writing, you never have to face rejection and you never have to face bad reviews. But if you can employ tools, understand, and be mindful, procrastination loses its edge. You gain power.
The worst part about procrastination is the self-fulfilling prophecy it creates. You put (fill-in-the-blank) off, and when you finally sit down … nada. Bupkis. Zilch. Nuttin’ honey.
You get stuck. And then you procrastinate, because being stuck feels terrible and is the perfect catalyst for a fridge run.
I’ll share a little secret: I was actually supposed to write this article for publication on this blog last fall.
Go ahead. I’ll wait for the inevitable jokes, the laughter, even derision. But really! I wasn’t stuck and I wasn’t procrastinating. I was busy. Other stuff took over. That doesn’t count as procrastinating, right?
I’m not sure if it counts or not, but does it really matter what we call it if the writing still doesn’t get done? Regardless of the moniker, it can happen any time, to anyone. Because of that, I’m excited to share some tips on getting your BIC (Butt In Chair).
First you might want to figure out why you’re procrastinating.
- Your idea needs to marinate a little.
- You’re a perfectionist.
- The manuscript you’re working on is no fun
- It’s boring.
- It’s difficult.
- You’re afraid of not succeeding.
- Or afraid of succeeding.
- You lack motivation because there isn’t any goal.
- You have no energy.
Anything sound familiar? Diagnosis: you’re human. Give yourself a break, figure out why you’re procrastinating, and then reframe your habits. Use these tips if you really want to get that work done.
Tip #1 – Know Your Passion
If you’re writing on topics that bore you, this tip should help. Back when I lived in L.A., I volunteered for the Starlight Foundation, granting wishes for critically, chronically, and terminally ill children.
We were assigned the wishes but allowed to embellish them. Mine was granting a wish for a little boy named Tomas*, who had made a wish to go to Disneyland. I was so excited to see his reaction when I arrived at his home to tell him all about how he was going to have his wish come true: the Magic Kingdom in all its glory, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and everything. I told him he’d stay in the Disneyland Hotel and––
This is where Tomas interrupted me.
He asked, “What is a hotel?” His family had never stayed in a hotel so he had no idea what to expect.
After I got home, I wrote and illustrated a picture book for him (something akin to a book dummy). It was called What is a Hotel?
I read it to him on my next visit; the story was fun and funny. He loved it, and it got him excited about his upcoming trip. After his reaction, I knew I wanted to connect with kids like that. And I wanted to be published — from then on, I was writing and illustrating on a regular schedule, determined not to let myself procrastinate no matter what. I knew what my passion was.
Finding my passion gave me the motivation I needed to dig in. I stopped procrastinating. I was compelled. (Here is a great TED talk by Simon Sinek on Finding Your Why.)
Tip #2 – Reminders
This may seem obvious but make your writing time a priority.
- Schedule your writing time into your calendar.
- Use post-it notes, alarms, alerts, or whatever will not let you forget.
- Fit it into your life the same way you fit your workout schedule or any other important appointments.
- Have your calendar send you alerts.
- Tell people who aren’t supportive, or don’t think what you do is important (I guess that’s the same thing!) that you’re busy. You can just say the truth: you’ve got an appointment.
Tip #3 – Create Accountability
From the reaction of our accountability group (The Writers’ Block, which we started after that survey I mentioned above), groups really work well.
- Join an accountability group
- Enlist an accountability partner
Tip #4 – To-Do List
I’ve tried 37 different methods to keep a to-do list that I actually check and follow. Choose the method that is right for you, and if having a to-do list makes you feel overwhelmed, just put one thing on it: WRITE right now!
Tip #5 – Dangle that Carrot
It’s important to build in rewards if you respond well to that––I know I do! You need those little rewards to motivate you toward the big rewards. Bait yourself. Tell yourself that after you write 5 pages, work an hour, do a chapter…whatever, you’ll let yourself (fill in the blank).
It’s just human nature: We like to do what is pleasurable, and if something is all pain, we are just not going to create that habit. You can even create little reward tickets – go to the spa, take a day off––write your bait on your tickets.
It’s hard to remember what things we accomplished and very easy to focus on the negative. (“I didn’t finish my book!” or “I didn’t keep my schedule of writing five hours every day!”)
Every new year I create a little gift to help writers succeed. This year we gave away what we called the Success Journal. It’s got other stuff in it too, but the primary focus was to offer a place for writers to record even the smallest of successes (“Yay! I revised a paragraph into one great sentence today!”)
And we even included those aforementioned reward tickets. It’s not available anymore, but as a reader of this blog, you can download it here.
Tip #6 – Clean Up
How messy is your workspace? It will drain your brain to have a big rat’s nest to work in!
Declutter that nest now. Take 15-30 minutes (set a timer) and attack the mess.
Do a little every day if doing it all at once will derail your efforts. After you do that, get all that digital hoarding straightened up too. Clear your emails, delete the copy of the copy of the copy of the first manuscript you ever wrote (and make sure your files are backed up!)
Tip #7 – Unplug
Yes. That’s what I said. Try out one of the following programs if you really can’t do this on your own (and I feel you, I do).
- Freedom
- Offtime
- Self Control
- Cold Turkey
Tip #8 – The Head-on-the-Pillow Test
I like Alyce Cornyn-Selby’s “head on the pillow test.” When you go to bed tonight, ask yourself, “I just traded 24 hours for what I got today. Am I happy with the trade?”
Tip #9 – The “I Remember When” Game
I made up this game and use it for all kinds of situations in order to get perspective. The game goes like this: I’m 97 years old and I’m telling someone about my life. I’m looking back on the situation of the moment (whatever I’m trying to get perspective on) and talking about how it turned out.
What am I disappointed in as I “look back” on my life? What am I happy I didn’t put off?
by Katie Davis (@KatieDavisBurps) January 13, 2019
What about you, scriveners? Do you fall into the procrastination trap? How do you get yourself motivated? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions to get yourself going on a project you’ve been procrastinating?
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Katie Davis is the author/illustrator of picture books as well as a middle grade and YA novel. She has created digital courses and products for writers such as How to Create Your Author Platform, Video Idiot Boot Camp, and Launch Your Book Blueprint. She also co-created Picture Book Summit, (the first live online conference of itskind) held annually the first Saturday of October.
Brain Burps About Books was Katie’s first podcast, created in 2010. Her second is Writing for Children, full of bite-sized, craft-oriented lessons.
Katie has been honored to speak everywhere from a maximum security prison, to elementary schools, to university level, including UCONN and Yale, and has keynoted conferences and fundraising galas.
She now runs the 50-year-old Institute of Children’s Literature and its sister school, the Institute for Writers, where, as of this writing, over 470,027 people have taken college-level writing courses and learned to write for both children and adults.
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Check out the Institute of Children’s Literature and the Institute for Writers.
They are highly recommended and have been going strong for 50 years. Here’s a thread at SCBWI full of praise from ICL students.
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Featured image: “La Parisienne” by Albert Edelfelt 1883.
You bet I do! That’s why I’ve been working on the same story for over two years now. Some is too busy, some is I need to find the passion again, and some I just need to unplug and do it.
I dare you to unplug right NOW! 😎 Please lmk whether you did it!
Thanks, Katie. Fab post! I’d also add that IME procrastinating can be a message from the subconscious alerting you that something about your book has gone off track. Could be anything from a blah character to an over amped plot. Important to a) figure out if this is true and b) if it is, how to fix it.
Yes, the important thing is to be aware. If you blame yourself, get into the whole guilt cycle, that will not be productive. Whatever one needs to do to productively deal with the procrastination works!
I think you missed the primary reason procrastination happens:
Fear.
People hear fear and dismiss it, thinking it’s should be something more obvious. But I worked with a cowriter and I did not know until many years later that he was terrified of being published. It showed up as procrastination…he always wanted to go back and fix one more thing in the first chapter. It looked productive to him because he was working on the book, but it also kept him from finishing the book and sending it out. He even put off writing queries under the guise of wanting to find an agent through networking.
The fear can be really sneaky. It can cause you to go in the wrong direction on the idea–for example, your idea is for a medical thriller from a doctor’s perspective, and you have no medical background at all. Or it can create ideas that are so dark that no one will accept them (happened to me).
It can also be that voice that says this story is terrible and no one will ever want to publish it…and when someone gives a one star review, it confirms the fear.
You really have to start with knowing that fear is normal and watching out for the ways it will sneak in.
OMG YOU ARE SO RIGHT, Linda! I have given talks on this and can’t believe I forgot to include it. Many of our students take years to finish their writing courses, or assignments because of fear. I’ve heard it time and again.
If you don’t finish the writing (whatever kind you do), you won’t get rejected. You won’t get bad reviews, and you won’t have to face bad sales. Writing is scary. But it’s so worth doing!
What a marvelous, well-balanced view! I found it encouraging just to read this- so my head on pillow time will have no complaints.
I think I over-weigh any kind of physical output and tended to minimize “thinking time”. But I am a huge defender of the first item on your list. Spending time thinking about the story, letting the ingredients “set” awhile, absolutely counts as writing. What’s more- waiting and thinking ALWAYS pays off when I get back to writing. Always.
Thank you so much, Will! That means a lot to me.
I agree on the thinking time – when it comes to my own writing I always sense it like back-burner simmering. I’m glad this was encouraging for you!
Great tips! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Darlene!
I’m 100% unplugged with my writing. I have an old XP computer that is primary writing apparatus, and that came about because M$ decreed it was obsolete. The first thing that I did was to terminate my Internet connections with extreme prejudice. That way, I don’t have the built in excuse of doing “research” if I’m stuck writing a particular scene. In about a year, i will be doing the same thing to my Win7 computer.
Whatever you gotta do, right? 😎 Maybe an old Selectric typewriter would help––definitely no Internet there!
Katie, thanks for the boost! Your last point was compelling. Do we want to look back on our writing efforts and realize that we frittered them away? Or have something to show because we didn’t let fear or laziness rule the day? I recently had a conversation with a yet-to-be published author and she said “Wow, you’re living the dream” and I said “I have so much more to do.” We have to toss proscrastination out the window at every stage of our careers.
Carmen, thank you for this comment. As the saying goes, “the days are long but the years are short,” and sitting in front of a screen/paper/whatever can feel interminable, especially if it’s blank. But then suddenly, the year flies by, and what have we written? So assessing (NOT judging) what we’ve done, and be mindful of our time is valuable. Again, as long as we are kind to ourselves.
Hi everybody! I haven’t been able to get hold of Katie all day. I have a feeling she may have lost power in that big snowstorm back east. Thanks for all your great comments. I hope she’ll resurface soon!
I’m here! I couldn’t get through the Gravitar! I’m here now! 😎
Speaking as the Dowager Duchess of Procrastination, I agree with everything you’ve said. The causes and the possible cures for the dreaded affliction have all inhabited my head and my writing room. (Yes, JK Rowling and I have something in common, hehe.) Scheduling and treating writing like a real job has played a huge role in my recovery, as has rewarding myself for achievements no matter how small. Just yesterday I finally installed a pop-up newsletter sign-up thingie on my website – it’s been on my to-do list for over a month. Why had I been putting it off? Well, fear of screwing it up was the main cause. After it was installed, tested and working I treated myself to a piece of licorice. Yay me! I’m still not completely cured of procrastinatory syndrome but I recognize its main cause – fear – and I have strategies to help me get past it.
Luanna, as a fellow licorice lover, I applaud your efforts! And look: you wrote that fear was the main cause of one form of your procrastination, and if you look above, Linda pointed out how integral fear is to procrastination. I hope you download our Success Journal at http://instituteforwriters.com/successjournal and actually USE it. It’s so easy to forget the positive things we accomplish, and even easier to focus on the negatives (and that can be self-propagating).
I love this. I am always working hard to be healthy, confident, and productive so that 85 year old me (assuming I get that far) won’t look back and be ashamed. My biggest procrastination trap is guilt. With a long list of things to do for work, around the house, etc., who am I to “waste” time writing? I know that’s in my head. It wouldn’t matter what hobby I enjoyed, spending time on myself will always make me feel guilty. I’ve been working to get that nonesense out of my brain. Working to make 85 year old me look back and smile. Do I want to look back on a perpetual clean house, or have had some of my stories written down?
Oh, oh, Ingrid. PLEASE repeat after me (at the risk of sounding like Stuart Smalley!): I’m a writer and this is important. I’m worth it. Let the house gooooo. Or designate a specific time to clean it, as well as a specific time (when your brain is energetic) to write. And download our Success Journal and really use it to write in your accomplishments! It’s my year of YES, and I’m doing it too. If you’re interested, it’s at http://instituteforwriters.com/successjournal. Good luck!
Thank you for this post. I’m sure all of us have experienced numerous of these examples of why we procrastinate. I can’t wait to watch the TED talk by Simon Sinek on Finding Your Why. Those TED talks are fabulous.
Thanks again.
Thanks, Patricia! It’s really a terrific talk. I think possible one of their most watched, too.
This is so great, just what I needed! After more than two years I’m able to find time to write again (I’ve self-published two crime novels, the second in 2015) and I’m terrified. Getting back into that saddle is so hard, even though I’m desperate to do it, and I’m finding all sorts of excuses. Thank you.
I looked up your books, and I’m happy to see you have good covers! Nicely designed. Also very good that you’ve made them the start of a series, so kudos! Series are handy since they lead into each other. Were you aware that if you have other formats (audio, for example, hard cover, etc) that Amazon likes that and you can have better SEO there? (It IS after all, a search engine!) I learned SO much while creating our course, Amazon Sales Secrets. I’d recommend also including a link IN each of the series books to the OTHER books in the series. You can also include a link to your mailing list – your fans will want to know when the next book is coming out, and it’s a great list builder to direct customers. Good luck! I am so happy you’re writing again and that this helped you, Janet!
Great tips. I am guilty of procrastination. The irony is once I start I cannot stop unless forced. I become single-minded. The problem is getting started… I do like that ‘head on the pillow’ tip. Self-reflection works since we usually are our harshest critics.
Great article, Katie!
Thanks! Ingmarhek, that’s what I called “hyper-focused.” Set a timer. FORCE yourself to stop after it goes off, since that will get you going the next day. I know some writers who stop in the middle of a sentence so it’ll bug them so much they CANNOT procrastinate! See if either of those work and come back here and leave a comment to let us all know?
Very enlightening. As a procrastinator, I’d never equated that with fear. It’d seemed more of: I have more important things to do… I don’t even know where to start…
Being a writer, I find, is also being a traveler on a road of learning–about myself. And, simultaneously connecting with our common ground–being human. All the comments provided much insight and thought-provoking pauses.
Thank you for the 97 year-old reflection example, Katie. I’m putting that to use now!
Linda Curtis
Linda, I use that 97-year-old game at least once a week-hope it helps you!
I totally need these tips. Thank you for an awesome post on procrastination – an issue most of us face, at times, as writers.
I’m so happy it helped, Paula! (I don’t think most of us face it. I think ALL of us face it at one time or another!)
My hubby and I are both champion procrastinators! I have edits waiting and waiting….for energy, for motivation, for me to just bite the bullet and do it! Great post 🙂
Well, Stephanie, I want to you STINK at it! Come in last place… bite that bullet!
Well, I just procrastinated for ten more minutes before getting back to my writing by reading this post. In this case it was absolutely worth it! I haven’t figured out quite why I self sabotage (procrastinate) but am getting better at working around it. Some great ideas here. Thanks!
At first I was nervous, reading the start of your comment… but I am SO happy it was worth it. (Did you hear that? That was me cracking the whip to get you back to work. Use these ideas and start self-supporting instead of self-sabotaging!)
Procrastination has a bad name – but it’s got a good side too. Instead of worrying about ‘Getting Stuck’ there’s an alternative form of procrastination I’ve found useful – just twist the idea a little… Here’s my take on it:
https://www.dn-charles.com/dnc-s-blog/just-two-minutes-honest
You’re right, DN Charles. Procrastination can have a good side IF it allows you to percolate your ideas. But you just need to be vigilant!