Authors and Procrastination

[Starbeam]

If I set aside one hour per day for writing, and one hour per day for exercise, I would have washboard abs and turn out the equivalent of a 300 page novel per year. I'll get right on that, as soon as I finish getting caught up with my favorite shows from last season on hulu.com . 

I've tried to do this.  Set one hour after work for exercise, the next hour for writing.  Set it up to start last week, and so far all I've done is click off the reminder when it pops up.  Kinda sucks trying to do anything when you feel like crap.

[Murphy's Stunt Double]

That's the thing that re3aly sucks about it. Because when you can make yourself do something when you feel like crap, almost inevitably, you will feel better for doing it.

But talking yourself into it?

Here, wait, let me scale Mt. Everest first!!! 

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

That's the thing that re3aly sucks about it. Because when you can make yourself do something when you feel like crap, almost inevitably, you will feel better for doing it.

Depends on the kind of feel crap you most often get.

Me forcing myself to write when I have an incoming major headache is like me staying in work when one happens at lunchtime; my productivity goes way down, the likelihood of major errors goes way up, and it can easily make the difference between feeling lousy for half a day and three days falt on my back in bed.

[Nawlins34]

Haha good, so I'm not alone
I've been setting aside a certain time everyday to do at least one hour of writing during that time, but I don't let myself do anything else during that time

Hi everyone, I've been reading the forums for a few months now, but this is my first post.

In regards to your post, Kero319, I've been trying to use this tactic as well, but it's a bit tricky with my daily schedule. However, I do note I seem to make time whenever a plot angle, dialog, or any sort of idea pops in my head.  I have to start somewhere!

[KevinEvans]

Grin,
My wife and I write as a team, We usually get in two days a week where we go to the local cafe (Live Internet and good food) and knock out whatever we need to get written for the most recent deadline. Most of what we write is equal parts caffeine and pastry. Of course we usually spend more than we expect to earn, from the work. The money is only a way to keep score any way, if we had to live from what we sell we would starve.
Regards,
Kevin

ps the worst part of writing is waiting for the publishers to send the tax information every year.

[LizW65]

ps the worst part of writing is waiting for the publishers to send the tax information every year.

Making enough $$ at writing to actually pay taxes:  priceless.

[Paranoid Wizard]

I can't say there is any cure to procrastination. I wish there was though. Hooboy. I'd get loads more work done.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Making enough $$ at writing to actually pay taxes:  priceless.

Not when you make a sale in country A where the mechanisms for paying tax on foreign sales assume you live in country B and you actually live in country C and so the money for the sale hangs indefinitely in limbo because nobody will back down on which documentation is needed where.

[Paranoid Wizard]

Not when you make a sale in country A where the mechanisms for paying tax on foreign sales assume you live in country B and you actually live in country C and so the money for the sale hangs indefinitely in limbo because nobody will back down on which documentation is needed where.

That sounds confusing, and aggravating, to boot.

[thausgt]

Hi everyone, I've been reading the forums for a few months now, but this is my first post.

In regards to your post, Kero319, I've been trying to use this tactic as well, but it's a bit tricky with my daily schedule. However, I do note I seem to make time whenever a plot angle, dialog, or any sort of idea pops in my head.  I have to start somewhere!

I've taken to keeping a pack of blank notecards and at least two pens on me at all times, as well as writing in two different hard-copy journals (one for random writing stuff, the other for more traditional "this is what I think and feel about this event in my life" sort of writing). If ideas occur to me, I can jot them down on the spot.

The voice-recorder function on my cell phone is too complicated to use when an idea is in my head, saying that if I don't write it down IMMEDIATELY there's some poor starving writer in a different time zone who'll be perfectly happy to turn the idea into a book.

Not to mention the fact that I can't stand the sound of my voice when it's recorded. It's always so different from what I hear directly...

[Quantus]

The only cure I know for procrastination is boredom.  You have to force yourself into a situation/location that you have no other option than to write.  Thats my biggest problem.  I need my computer to write (even I cannot always read my own handwriting, I should have been a doctor), which is in my living room, where all my distractions are a few clicks away, and my other hobbies are all right there.  Im considering buying a cheap laptop just so I can go out to a park or something and isolate myself.   

[Starbeam]

The only cure I know for procrastination is boredom.  You have to force yourself into a situation/location that you have no other option than to write.  Thats my biggest problem.  I need my computer to write (even I cannot always read my own handwriting, I should have been a doctor), which is in my living room, where all my distractions are a few clicks away, and my other hobbies are all right there.  Im considering buying a cheap laptop just so I can go out to a park or something and isolate myself.  

I tend to do my better writing by hand; it just seems to flow better that way, and typing it up can be a bitch when I come to a word where I can't tell what the hell the letters are, or if I left any out.  As for actually using the computer and being distracted, that's part of the reason I bought a Macbook.  None of the games I own, aside from Blizzard games that I don't play anymore, will work on it, and I'm too lazy to  actually register the copy of Windows I'd installed before.  Which was only cause some of the photo software I wanted to use was for Windows only.  Or so I thought until I accidentally put the disc in and the open thing just popped up and let me install on OS X.  And taking it with me to Borders will keep me from doing crap online cause I'm not gonna pay to use the tmobile hotspot wireless thingie there.

And sometimes it's easier for me to ignore a distraction like email and internet when I have it open in the background.  No clue why, but that came about doing homework in high school and sitting in AOL chatrooms at the same time.

[THETA]

Character casting.  I've posted about it before.  It makes you excited to return to your story when you've spent eight hours finding the right face on the internet.  I usually don't use well-known actors or actresses.  I go for random models or random people whose photos are posted on the internet on photography sites and stuff.  Trust me it works.  When i completed a story that i posted on this one site i also made a slideshow/video of all my characters looks and posted it on youtube for my readers.  It was cool. 

[Lord Rae]

I'm procrastinating right now!

I'm at work... and since its Saturday there is basically nothing going on work wise. So I brought my stuff in to work on my book while wait for something to happen here. But instead of writing I'm sitting here looking for threads to read and reply to. I even got around to picking myself an avatar. Only took me 300+ posts. ;p

But yeah. I'm pretty bad at procrastinating.

[meg_evonne]

Not when you make a sale in country A where the mechanisms for paying tax on foreign sales assume you live in country B and you actually live in country C and so the money for the sale hangs indefinitely in limbo because nobody will back down on which documentation is needed where.

  And that is a major ouch and I'm guessing you need some ultra expensive tax person to detangle the mess or ignore it and plan to never travel to that country A ever again?  My head is aching just thinking about reading all those forms!